The Institute - March 2018 - 14

PRESIDENT'S COLUMN

Defining the Future
Priorities for IEEE as a 21st-century
professional membership organization

I

IEEE PRESIDENT AND CEO

T ' S C L E A R T H A T the profes-

sional association landscape is
changing. Organizations such as
IEEE must adapt to these changes
to stay relevant, both to members
and to society.
Many know who we are, but not
necessarily all that we do. To be
sure, IEEE is a great organization
with breadth both in discipline and
geography. It's a powerful brand that
can open new opportunities and has
an enviable mission that members,
potential members, and the general
public can all support. But IEEE is
facing challenges in growing membership, in responding to revenueimpacting changes in publishing and
conference business models, and in
asserting our leading-edge position in
technology policy.
It is responses to these challenges
that are defining our strategic
approach as we position IEEE to
purposefully serve our membership
and mission throughout the 21st century. This requires setting priorities,
improving accountability, and creating a collaborative environment with
a commitment to innovation and a
forward-looking perspective while
also creating the diverse next generation of IEEE leaders. The outcome will
be more engaged members who are at
the forefront of developing emerging
technologies and the recognition of
IEEE as the voice of technical professionals worldwide.
GLOBAL CONVENER

IEEE has made great strides in effective global public policy activities by
engaging and leveraging the knowledge and insights of our international
community. We believe that successful technology implementation often
depends as much on the actions of
governments as on the discoveries
of scientists and the creativity of
engineers. And that wise technology-

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TH E IN STITUTE MAR CH 2018

related public policies are best developed through consultation between
policymakers and technologists.
Our IEEE Global Public Policy
Committee enables us to serve as
a worldwide source of information
to governments and to society at
large about the social responsibilities and implications of technology
and the roles innovations can play
in enhancing quality of life and
increasing well-being.
And our European Public Policy
Committee, now a permanent
committee of IEEE, is focused on
expanding the dialogue between
Europe's engineering community
and public authorities for the benefit
of IEEE members, engineering professionals, and the general public.
Opportunities for further engagement exist throughout the world.
I N D U S T RY O U T R E AC H

The IEEE Industry Engagement
Committee was also established as a
permanent committee of IEEE effective this year. It works to improve
coordination of activities across
IEEE and provide opportunities for
the development of products and
services for industry professionals.
The committee is the result of extensive outreach and engagement with
international technology leaders to
explore current and emerging issues
in established and entrepreneur
businesses. These efforts were essential in learning how IEEE can better
provide value to industry and helped
establish the framework for the IEEE
Industry Advisory Board.
We are committed to working
across our organization and with our
members, volunteers, and professional staff to develop and implement an engagement strategy that
delivers renewed value both to our
members who work in industry and
to our industry partners.

MISSION - FOCUSED

IEEE is dedicated to advancing
technology for the benefit of humanity. Through our diverse humanitarian
and philanthropic programs, there are
many opportunities to contribute to

My years of
membership and
volunteer service
at IEEE have
reinforced for
me the relevance
and importance
of professional
associations
improving the human condition worldwide. The IEEE Humanitarian and
Philanthropic Opportunities Initiative
launched in August during Sections
Congress 2017 in Sydney. This collaboration brings together the wide range
of IEEE programs that aim to do social

good. This initiative further highlights
the mission-driven focus of IEEE and
helps us incorporate a humanitarian
component into all that we do.
My years of membership and volunteer service at IEEE have reinforced
for me the relevance and importance
of professional associations. There is
significance in being part of a group
of people with a shared purpose that
goes beyond one's own personal interests and current career.
Our strength is in our unity. We
are at our best when we have active
collaboration, communication,
and cooperation among our units,
whether it be boards, societies, or
sections. With a joint focus on member value, we can share education,
career, policy, and other high-interest
materials among our units through
communal, cross-discipline events.
The world's leading technological
professional organization can grow
its lead with attention to crisp execution of our strategic plan, maintaining
our greatest strengths in technical
leadership, and expanding our global
public policy and humanitarian
impact-all with a renewed focus on
membership. Our value is multiplied
through our cooperation.
I can see an IEEE where private
and public organizations facing
major decisions involving our fields
of interest routinely say they better
check with IEEE first, where members regularly ask how they can be
more involved, and where students
enthusiastically ask how soon they
can become higher grade members.
I encourage all our members
to be engaged with IEEE's activities, to inspire participation from
colleagues, and to celebrate all that
your IEEE membership does for you,
for our professional community, and
for the benefit of humanity.
Please share your thoughts with
me at president@ieee.org. ◆

THEINSTITUTE.IEEE.ORG

DAVID SUTPHIN

JIM JEFFERIES
http://globalpolicy.ieee.org/ http://globalpolicy.ieee.org/ https://www.ieee.org/about/ieee_europe/index.html https://www.ieee.org/about/ieee_europe/index.html https://www.ieee.org/about/industry/introduction.html https://www.ieee.org/about/industry/introduction.html https://www.ieee.org/about/ieee-humanitarian-philanthropy.html https://www.ieee.org/about/ieee-humanitarian-philanthropy.html http://theinstitute.ieee.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Institute - March 2018
