STRATEGIC ACTIONS FOR OUR IEEE REGION 8 AND THE ENTIRE IEEE: A HOME FOR EVERYBODY … my vision as Candidate for 2021-22 IEEE Region 8 Director-Elect
IEEE is the leading association in science, technology, and innovation in our field, thanks to the extraordinary competences, efforts, and dedication of the many outstanding volunteers and staff. To continue to be the premiere reference in the world, we should timely identify and address all needs of our scientific and professional community, supporting scientific, technological, industrial, economic, and social development for the benefit of humanity. To this purpose, we should understand the needs and the aspirations of each individual in our community and provide a personalized experience across our Region and the entire IEEE by adopting a human-centric approach, with selected services and products in the various stages of her professional career. These increased value and relevance will also contribute to attract and retain members and volunteers ensuring that our Region and the entire IEEE will continue to flourish. In this direction, I envision several opportunities for strategic actions:
- Identify flexible and sustainable membership models, with fees proportional to the average income in our field in each Country, thus making membership really affordable and valuable to each individual everywhere.
- Personalize membership, with tangible benefits, more focus on the young generations, personalized membership benefits, tailored bundles of services and products, participation in technical communities, joint memberships, rewarding mechanisms, sustainable payment methods, multi-tier membership models, and innovative services and delivery methods for the professionals of the future.
- Support underserved groups and geographical areas, by facilitating the access to knowledge and education, promoting soft skills and mentoring services, supporting entrepreneurship, expanding services for industry professionals and industry, valuing all diversities, and making micro-volunteering pervasive.
- Expand activities, events, services, material, and products on emerging technologies and interdisciplinary areas as well as emerging needs for technologies, standards, and applications to support technological development and innovation in research and industry, while continuing to produce high-quality knowledge and enhance curation and modern delivery mechanisms facilitating the access to knowledge.
- Increase continuing education programs and facilitate the access to materials available in our Region and the various IEEE groups, to support the transition from student to professional, the evolving career of young professionals, entrepreneurship, and people changing jobs as well as the industry needs for tailored corporate-wide approaches.
- Create practical knowledge for industry professionals to solve real-world problems and use standards, including guidelines, methodologies, best practices, and successful cases showing how to translate effectively the knowledge learned in university courses into working solutions and be more effective in the industry.
- Develop services for sharing knowledge through data, algorithms, and experimental results, with data mining and data analytics, by fostering innovation in the industry, and by supporting educational activities with advanced educational materials.
- Enhance people networking in our Region and the entire IEEE with specialized forums and events to foster dissemination of knowledge and best practices, mentoring on technology and career development, supporting inclusivity, and providing competence directories and repositories.
- Introduce a recommendation system to promote awareness about and facilitate the selection of knowledge, events, activities, products, and services available in our Region and the entire IEEE, by tailoring the search on the profile of each individual and proactively suggesting opportunities.
- Promote inclusivity and diversity and make this approach more visible and pervasive, by focusing especially on local communities, underserved groups and areas, young professionals, women, young generations, so as to tailor activities, events, products, and services to their specific needs.
- Enhance the support to public services, public policy, and humanitarian activities to reinforce the visibility, standing, and appreciation of IEEE Region 8 and the entire IEEE worldwide.
- Increase cooperation among groups in our Region and the entire IEEE and with other international and national associations with a holistic approach, exploiting synergies and focusing on the needs of the community. In summary, we should nurture each individual in the scientific and professional community of our Region, making IEEE Region 8 and the entire IEEE her real scientific and professional home. We should strive for innovation in activities, events, services, and products. We should promote cooperation, transparency, trust, and overall financial sustainability. We should understand and serve our community, both globally and locally, with a holistic view for our Region and the entire IEEE, recognizing diversity as a fundamental richness for synergic cooperation, and in which everybody feels proud to be. An IEEE by people for people. If we will properly do so, people will appreciate and value our Region and the entire IEEE, perceive relevant to have an active role in it, and – consequently – be happy and proud to become or remain a member and contribute to fostering the advancement of technology for benefit of humanity. With this spirit, I am fully committed to work in these directions for our IEEE Region 8 and our scientific and professional community.
