Foundation Hosts New York Computer Science and Economics Day

On November 1, 2013, the Simons Foundation hosted the sixth annual New York Computer Science and Economics (NYCE) day. The meeting brought together some 240 New York researchers in fields ranging from computer science to marketing and business.

The meeting’s goal was to promote a deeper understanding of, and to analyze the economics of, Internet activity. The event included four lectures and seven short talks.

Twenty posters created by attendees outlined research topics at the intersection of computer science and economics, their Internet-related applications and other interdisciplinary topics — from game theory to algorithmic understanding of the theory of evolution.

“We started NYCE six years ago with the purpose of making it a primary venue for interactions between computer scientists and economists from industrial and academic research communities in the New York area,” says Vahab Mirrokni, one of the meeting’s organizers. “NYCE 2013 went quite well. We got very positive feedback about all the talks after the conference.”

The success of the first six NYCE meetings has garnered attention from sponsors — notably Google and Microsoft — and the computer science community. “Given its success so far, the plan is to continue these events every year,” says Mirrokni. “In the next couple of years, we hope to grow NYCE even further and attract more economists to the event.”

NYCE 2012 and 2013 have been held at the Simons Foundation, and the organizers, along with the Mathematics and Physical Sciences division of the foundation, hope to continue that tradition in the coming years.