The Institute - June 2020 - TI2

president's column

Strength and Solidarity in Responding
to the Challenges of COVID-19

TI-2

JUN 2020

THE INSTITUTE

or cancel face-to-face meetings and
events and quickly set up online or virtual alternatives. We have supported

distancing measures and travel restrictions intended to slow the spread of the
pandemic and relieve peak demand on
medical systems.
Throughout this period and despite
obstacles, IEEE operations have continued. IEEE publications continue to accept,
review, and publish submissions and publish impactful cutting-edge research. Our
online publications remain available to
researchers and students around the world.
IEEE standards development continues as
well, using online collaboration to replace
in-person working-group meetings.
To help researchers understand, manage, and combat the pandemic, IEEE is
providing free, direct access through the

IEEE Xplore Digital Library to a collection of COVID-19 research articles and
standards. Our educational activities continue to offer online instruction,
and IEEE's preuniversity educational resources continue to assist
students whose classroom activities have been disrupted.
IEEE teams worked to develop
innovative and engaging event formats to replace conferences and
meetings that allowed audiences to
connect and interact online.
Throughout these challenging times, our members and volunteers around the world have
remained focused and committed to IEEE's mission.
With many IEEE office buildings closed in accordance with
local guidelines, IEEE professional
staff transitioned to remote-work
schedules. I would like to share
my appreciation for the way the
team supported our mission while
working from home and creatively
addressed the challenges of coordinating
activities across our distributed teams.
THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY

It has been interesting to see emerging technology play a major role in the
response to the pandemic. Technology
companies, big and small, pivoted to
join the fight against the coronavirus
and to fast-track efforts to help entrepreneurs develop technologies to address
the pandemic. University researchers
and their students also played key roles
in analysis and response.
In addition to biomedical technology,
artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics
have become indispensable resources

CHRISTIE'S PHOTOGRAPHIC SOLUTIONS

OVER THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS,
our international community has been
challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic,
a global health crisis that has
impacted many members of the
IEEE family. During this evolving
public health situation, our most
important priority has been
the safety and well-being of our
members, volunteers, and staff.
First and foremost, I want to
thank you for your continued support of IEEE. As a professional technical and scientific organization,
we are a community of researchers,
technologists, and scientists on the
front lines of global research, innovation, and medical infrastructure.
Many of our members are directly
or indirectly engaged in the fight
against this disease, supporting
biomedical research and applications, supporting data analysis
and modeling, maintaining critical
communications and power infrastructure, and caring for each other.
Thank you for your leadership, expertise, and efforts in helping to support communities throughout the world through
this public health crisis.
Given the global geographic reach of
the virus, its significant individual and
personal impact, and the deep economic
disruption it has caused, there probably
is not a single IEEE member, program,
or activity that has not been touched by
it. Despite the pandemic's challenges,
IEEE continues to support our members
and to execute our mission to advance
technology for the benefit of humanity.
To protect the safety, health, and
well-being of our members, volunteers,
and staff, IEEE moved to postpone

The Institute - June 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Institute - June 2020