Self-proclaimed as the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society, the ACM says the newly formed council positions the organisation to play an “indispensable role in the global technology policy dialogue” - and to serve as the central convening point for ACM’s interaction with government organisations, the computing community, and the public in matters of public policy related to information technology and computing.

“The digital revolution is an international phenomenon,” said ACM President Cherri M. Pancake, “and the leading tech companies, whose services are used by billions every day, have facilities and customers in countries all over the world”.

“So the pressing issues we hear about in the media―such as online privacy, data breaches, algorithmic bias, and the future of the internet―go beyond national borders. ACM’s new Technology Policy Council will provide a space in which computing professionals come together to offer global perspectives on global challenges.”

Pancake said ACM has been active in the policy arena for more than 25 years and its US (USTPC) and European (EUTPC) Technology Policy Committees regularly provide nonpartisan technical expertise to policy leaders and government agencies on issues though briefings, testimony, comments, and reports.

These committees will now work under the auspices of the new Technology Policy Council.

“The mission of the ACM Technology Policy Council will be to strengthen and elevate ACM’s policy initiatives around the world,” said ACM Technology Policy Council Chair Lorraine Kisselburgh.

“Government officials and legislators in nations everywhere are grappling with questions regarding the governance of technology, and the complexity of these technologies demands critical expertise. What ACM brings to the table is a deep bench of technical expertise to better inform policy, both nationally and globally.”

ACM says one of the Technology Policy Council’s first initiatives will be to publish a bimonthly series of short technical bulletins that summarise emerging technologies and research, and present nonpartisan perspectives on their policy implications.

The ACM Tech Briefs series is intended to inform policy decision makers, the media and the general public.

The members of the inaugural ACM Technology Policy Council are:

• Lorraine Kisselburgh (Chair), Purdue University
• Michel Beaudouin-Lafon (Vice Chair), Université Paris-Sud
• Vinton Cerf, Google
• Lorrie Cranor, Carnegie Mellon University
• Oliver Grau (Chair, EUTPC), Intel
• James Hendler (Chair, USTPC), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Jeanna Matthews, Clarkson University
• Máire O’Neill, Queens University Belfast
• Latanya Sweeney, Harvard University
• Michael Zimmer (Chair, Tech Briefs Committee), Marquette University