The IEEE is the world’s largest professional organization. Our technical products and conferences are the awe of association business. Our sections and chapters provide good membership value and we have strong volunteers contributing in so many ways. But like the Bob Dylan song “ the times they are a-changin” and the IEEE is not immune to them. This presents us with challenges and opportunities that I now propose to discuss.

Intellectual Property and Products

Our products and services account for 75% of our revenue. Protecting and increasing this revenue is a challenge that we cannot ignore. Members need electronic access for timely and authoritative information. Cross reference links to other publishers, multimedia enhancement, IEEE digital library for members, indexing and search capability are some of the on going projects that need to be nurtured. We need to develop a strategy to handle direct publishing to Internet. Younger members feel quite comfortable in quoting Internet publications. Perhaps IEEE should consider turning the IEEE website into a portal for related technical material and brokering cooperative arrangements with other publishers.

Our technologies are becoming increasingly interdisciplinary. We need to encourage societies to bring out products that address these interdisciplinary needs and eliminate organizational impediments that may hinder this. Early identification and promotion of emerging technologies is a must to position ourselves as a dominant player.

Vibrant IEEE Societies

Vibrant societies are essential to the IEEE’s sprit of innovation and the introduction of new products and member services. Unfortunately the recent trend of IEEE exercising central control is not very conductive to this. A sense of “ownership” is essential for our societies to remain vibrant. In particular, we must revert to the past practice of society empowerment and allow them to control their own budgets. The real challenge here, of course, is to work for a common vision: to offer the best products and services to our members and customers. If we keep this in mind, then vibrant and empowered societies really are strengths.

US OFAC/ ITAR Regulations

The IEEE is a global professional organization that serves a worldwide body of professionals and has always been committed to communication of scientific knowledge. Unfortunately the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regulations covering exporters and importers, and the International Traffic in Arms (ITAR) regulations, have seriously eroded this commitment. They have presented us with a major challenge to provide normal IEEE membership and services to our members in several countries. The consequence can be significant if you don’t comply. ITAR seems to be ultimately solvable but OFAC is a more difficult issue. A team of senior level volunteers and staff is working with US government to better understand these rules and to explain to them the nature of our business. I support this effort and hope that we will revert to something close to our global mandate.

Managing Budget/ Reducing Corporate Expenses

The IEEE budgeting process is currently an annual exercise. As your president, I will first conduct a through and independent review of all internal operations, examining accounting controls, information systems charges, institutional research costs, travel services ledgers, legal fees, marketing costs, and operational expenses. I’ll then plan for multi-year balanced budget.

To reduce corporate spending, we need to

• make our internal operations competitive with external providers,
• prioritize all activities and focus resources on those that are relevant,
• work with societies to simplify business rules,
• consider outsourcing when it is cost effective
• have volunteer oversight on IT expenses, and
• approve major programs only after examining their value and log-term financial implications.

Membership and Volunteerism

There is a growing concern that the IEEE is becoming an “old boys/girls club”. We need to involve more people in IEEE activities. The people are out there; the key is to identify them. Society chapters could play a strong role in identifying new volunteers.

We need to expand membership beyond the traditional field of electrical engineers. There are tremendous opportunities in information technology and related areas. This too should help the societies strengthen their volunteer base. I will support these members/volunteers by working to simplify bylaws and delegating authority to counter staff control.

Concluding Remarks

I am committed to ensuring the viability of the societies and councils, since they are the key to the bulk of IEEE IP production. I offer specific ideas and plans to bring about improvements in product and services that our members receive. I invite you to visit http://www.ece.uvic.ca/~bhargava/ieee.

Vijay Bhargava can be reached at the University of Victoria, Electrical & Computer Engineering, EOW Room 423, P.O. Box 3055, Victoria, B.C.  V8W 3P6, Canada; Phone: +1 250 721-8617;  Fax: +1 250721-6052;  E-mail: v.bhargava@ieee.org