New NI-relevant journal by the ACM

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Thanks to Patricia Lago for flagging a new journal by the Association for Computing Machinery. This new publication covers topics especially relevant to the NI’s mission and likely to overlap with our members’ interests: the ACM Journal on Computing and Sustainable Societies (ACMJCSS).

Are you interested in interdisciplinary research that explores the impact of computing on sustainable development? Do you want to learn about the latest innovations and challenges in applying computing technologies to address social, environmental, and economic problems? If yes, then you might want to check out the new journal.

ACMJCSS is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes high-quality research articles that explore how computing can contribute to sustainable societies. The journal covers a wide range of topics, such as human-computer interaction, machine learning, computer vision, agriculture, health care, security, privacy, sustainability, and ubiquitous computing. The journal also welcomes articles that address the ethical, social, and cultural implications of computing for sustainable development.

The first issue of ACMJCSS was published in September 2023 and features eight articles that showcase the diversity and relevance of computing and sustainable societies research. Here are some examples of the articles in the first issue:

  • Focusing on the Unfocused: Corresponding Perspectives on Connectivity among Small-scale Non-profit Organizations Working for Street Children in Bangladesh and Their Donors: This article investigates how small-scale non-profit organizations (NPOs) working for street children in Bangladesh use online platforms to communicate with their donors. The article reveals the challenges and opportunities of using online platforms for NPOs and provides design recommendations for improving their connectivity.

Factors influencing willingness to donate (p. 11)

  • Robust OCR Pipeline for Automated Digitization of Mother and Child Protection Cards in India: This article presents a robust optical character recognition (OCR) pipeline for digitizing mother and child protection cards in India. The article describes how the OCR pipeline can improve the accuracy and efficiency of recording vaccination data and enable better monitoring and evaluation of immunization programs.
  • Pixel Perfect: Using Vision Transformers to Improve Road Quality Predictions from Medium Resolution and Heterogeneous Satellite Imagery: This article proposes a novel method for predicting road quality from satellite imagery using vision transformers. The article demonstrates how the method can achieve high accuracy and robustness in different settings and regions, and how it can support infrastructure planning and maintenance.

Road classification (illustration, not from paper. See p. 3:6 for b/w photo)

Road quality classification (p. 3:8)

  • How Viable are Energy Savings in Smart Homes? A Call to Embrace Rebound Effects in Sustainable HCI: This article challenges the assumption that smart homes can reduce energy consumption by increasing efficiency. The article argues that smart homes may also induce rebound effects, which are behavioral responses that offset or reverse the expected energy savings. The article calls for more research on rebound effects in sustainable human-computer interaction (HCI).

These are just some of the exciting articles that you can find in the first issue of ACMJCSS. You can access the full issue here and learn more about the journal here.