Candidates for 2006 Technical Activities Board Vice President elect
J. Roberto Boisson De Marca

IEEE technical societies and councils face significant and immediate challenges that must be addressed in the next two to five years. Some of these challenges are internal to TAB’s internal organizational structure, some are due to changes in IEEE’s modus operandi and yet others, probably the most threatening ones, are caused by advances in technology and a changing attitude in industry.
The most visible challenge is how societies can have a viable and healthy future in light of IEEE’s new financial reality. However there are several other threats which have compounded this issue and will require very creative solutions, namely: (i) the shift to electronic media and centralized products such as IEL and Enterprise and the associated threat to the visibility of societies and councils and to the ownership of the intellectual products they create; (ii) maintaining society and council memberships when they are no longer required for access to IP; (iii) the growth of open access publishing and the associated threat to publication products and income; (iv) the shift in attitude change in industry where precompetitive research is no longer a priority and is virtually no longer done, and as a consequence IEEE society products and activities are perceived as less critical by industry top management; (v) the need for the IEEE Technical Activities Board (TAB) to organize itself better so that it can be more effective in achieving its goals within IEEE and in influencing IEEE Board of Director (BoD) decisions and; (vi) the need for TAB to act as a truly single and cohesive entity where Societies/Councils can spontaneously develop joint strategies and foster evolutions, while making sure our members and the engineering community are always provided the best services possible.
It is clear to me that these difficulties equally affect S/Cs of all sizes. Therefore there is a need for a joint and concerted effort by everyone concerned in IEEE technical activities to find the most effective and enduring solutions that will guarantee the collective well-being of the Societies and Councils for many years to come. These solutions will most likely come from ideas and contributions of volunteers representing different S/Cs. If elected I will lead a joint, concerted and focused effort to identify effective and enduring solutions that will guarantee a healthy future for IEEE Technical Activities and high quality, high value member services. I intend to lead TAB by focusing efforts in these strategically key issues, reducing time devoted to more general discussions and to peripheral topics.
In addition to serving as chair of the Technical Activities Board, another important role of the VP-Technical Activities (VP-TA) is to be a key player in the BoD and in the IEEE management structure. I am a firm believer that IEEE must remain a member-driven organization and that the volunteers are the most valuable asset of the organization. I have also been a longstanding and vocal defender of the importance of strong and vital Societies/Councils (to attract the world leading volunteers and the IP they produce) as essential to IEEE’s success.. As IEEE Board member I pledge to be a firm advocate of these concepts as well as always demand that the BoD actions are guided by fiscal responsibility (please see editorial in IEEE Communications Magazine – Is IEEE strangling its golden geese? -http://www.comsoc.org/livepubs/ci1/public/2001/sep/cipresmess.html). Finally, as VP-TA I will always make sure Societies/Councils TAB concerns as well as member needs are heard and properly addressed by the IEEE Board of Directors.
I have proven management and leadership skills as demonstrated by my achievements as ComSoc President (http://www.comsoc.org/
livepubs/ci1/public/2001/dec/cipresmess.html), including the best Society year ever in terms of total revenue, and IEEE Division III Director. I seek your support to add my contribution to those of past TAB Vice Presidents in leading the necessarily multilevel effort forwards, so that the future of IEEE can be even more successful than its past -- a bigger and brighter future for IEEE

Peter W. Staecker

Technical Activities creates the intellectual property that defines the IEEE brand. Societies and Councils, represented by outstanding volunteers and staff, have managed growing publications and conference businesses, and have drawn strength from a growing global membership base. Likewise, the S/Cs been effective custodians of their share (roughly 90%) of IEEE reserves, and have met the significant financial challenges of 2001-2002. The financial markets have stabilized, but changes in our business environment are redefining our tactical and strategic roadmap for the next few years, and will test our ability to work together.
How is our business environment changing? Here are some further thoughts on the businesses that are managed by the S/Cs (noting that with respect to Publications, the Societies and Councils create the intellectual property, and Publications Operations renders it in electronic and paper form.):

Conferences: Are we on autopilot?
Conference activities are currently the most autonomous of the three businesses – in some instances isolated from the Administrative Committees of their parent Society/Council leadership. Financial reporting procedures at IEEE were tightened at the request of our external auditors, so Conference accrual reporting, initiated in 2004, will require more oversight of financial reporting at the S/C level. Additional events on the conference business horizon:

• IEEE-sponsored conferences increased by 15% (to 380) this year.
  
• For-profit publishers who have a capability of providing full exhibit/technical program/publication capability compete with IEEE conferences.

So we have competent competition, a significant (and growing) revenue stream at risk, and urgently need an S/C forum for sharing opinions and establishing strategy.

Membership: Can we recover our membership slide?
S/C membership has shown a steady decline since 2001.
While the IEEE Membership Development Committee is sponsoring an activity focused on corporate outreach, there are countless examples of successes at the Society level in working with industry. These include conference exhibit activities, awards and recognition for contributors to the Society and industry’s field of interest, and sponsorship or participation in chapter activities. These grass root successes can serve as the basis for scaling to the IEEE level, build on the valid local experiences of conference and chapter volunteers, and are scalable to Institute-wide initiatives.
Other membership issues are Publication- and Conference-related: Exit polls conducted in late 2004 from those who did not renew S/C memberships indicate that Society publications, conferences, services and fees were not satisfactory. Renewing members stressed the need for continuous improvement in publications and services, such as:

1. High-quality, on-time technical information
   
2. Help with keeping current with their immediate technical areas as well as staying informed on emerging technology areas.
   
3. Help with information overload, in particular, finding essential information quickly.

Responses have quickly dropped into place:

1. A S/C backlog reduction project for 2005 will print 12,000 incremental pages; A S/C backfile project for 2006 will add pre-1988 IP to IEL.
   
2. New Technology Directions Committee portal at www.ieee.org/portal/pages/tab/meetings/ntdc/index.html includes directions to the TAB Emerging Technology Communities at www.ieee.org/emergingtech.
   
3. Publications Services and Products Board (PSPB) is moving additional ideas for new content and tools through both Pub Operations and the 2006 New Initiatives process.

But… are we moving quickly enough? Given the rapid growth of convenient desktop access to IEEE intellectual property through institutional subscription, the value of Society membership will rapidly shrink. Members are the source of volunteers and volunteers are the lifeblood of the Societies and therefore the Institute. It is therefore imperative that we quickly assess other means of offering value to Society members, including conference discounts, educational products, online communities, and other personal benefits. In so doing, we must remember the global extent of our membership, and remember the cultural and economic diversity of our members and volunteers.
Finally, membership retention and renewal is a contact sport. Consider Society volunteer outreach and communication efforts to the younger Society members (1-2 years of membership) to understand their needs, expectations, and financial sensitivities.

Publications: Successful business, clouds on the horizon?
IEL was a major asset during the years of financial stress, and is the envy of other not-for-profit (as well as for-profit) publishers. At the same time, the Open Access movement, increases in technical literature and capable search engines on the open (and closed) web pose threats to our existing publishing (and membership) business models. Strategies for dealing with Open Access have been identified and will be prioritized in coming months. Experiments in business strategies have been proposed that improve our competitive position with or without an Open Access scenario.
In conclusion, my view of the task before TAB is to manage the challenges facing the three businesses above, realizing that there are important threads, all with human faces, feelings, and points of view, that link them together. The Societies and Councils and their volunteers are the necessary elements of IEEE’s vitality, and must be nurtured and preserved.
Thank you for your consideration, and to learn more see http://mysite.verizon.net/ vze38mmc/index.htm