IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - December 2017 - 5

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Paul Cunningham

Planning for
the Future

hange tends to concentrate the mind. In
times of perceived significant or accelerated
change, humans tend
to reassess the past, reinterpret the
present, and consider the implications
for the future. Such change can be personal, organizational, or societal.
Societal change historically tends
to be driven by a complex interplay of
factors as diverse as climate and food
security, conflict and disease, culture
and technology, politics and religion.
While societal change often takes
place over extended periods of time,
it should never be forgotten that at key
times in the history of human society,
innovation (in areas including culture,
art, literature, medicine, music, science, or technology) can be accelerated by a combination of necessity and
serendipity. We are currently experiencing such an accelerated transition.
Technological innovation clearly
has far reaching implications for
the future evolution of human society and the millions of other species sharing this green and blue
planet. The ethical implications of
interdependencies, context, and
socio-cultural norms should never be
forgotten when considering potential
unintended and unanticipated consequences. With the increasingly rapid
rate of technological innovation and
societal change, at no time in the history of our Society, has our mandate
been of more consequence.

As a Society whose focus complements the technical activities of all
other IEEE Societies, contributions
by our Society are in ever increasing
demand both inside and beyond IEEE.
The IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology (SSIT) is truly demonstrating leadership in supporting
operationalization of the IEEE Tagline,
"Advancing Technology for Humanity."
The contribution of our active and
committed volunteers as it relates
to conferences, publications, distinguished lectures, and standards for example is widely recognized. The sheer
scale of the opportunities we are being asked to address requires us to accelerate expanding our programs and
continue growing our global footprint.
Meeting this objective requires
access to more volunteers to undertake these responsibilities and the
necessary financial and other resources required to adequately support our
Volunteers and Chapters, as well as
our Young Professionals, Students,
Women in Engineering, SIGHT, Distinguished Lecturers, Publications, and
Education programs.

Call for Volunteers
I invite you to help SSIT continue to
make a difference. Volunteer opportunities include:

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MTS.2017.2762899
Date of publication: 5 December 2017

DECEMBER 2017

∕

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

Serve your local community through SSIT Chapters.
■ Contribute to the work of SSIT's
committees.
■ Volunteer to host SSIT Distinguished Lecturers.
■ Submit articles or review submissions to IEEE Technology and
Society Magazine.
■ Review submissions to IEEE ISTAS,
Norbert Weiner, IEEE Ethics, ISTAfrica Week, and other SSIT supported conferences.
■ Support activities of the IEEE
SSIT IST-Africa SIGHT in ISTAfrica Partner Countries.
■ Represent SSIT on IEEE committees (TAB, BoD, Standards, Future
Directions Initiative)
■ Serve on the SSIT Board of Governors.
If any of these opportunities are
of potential interest or if you would
like to recommend someone, please
contact me and I will direct you to
the responsible team.
■

Call for Donations, Gifts,
and Bequests
SSIT is launching a fundraising campaign focused on securing the level of
resources required to scale activities
(continued on page 17)

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - December 2017