Program areas at IEEE
CONFERENCES: In 2023, IEEE conferences continued to showcase the latest groundbreaking research, while exploring new strategies to promote sustainability and accessibility. As a part of IEEE's efforts to reduce the environmental impact of its conferences, IEEE joined the Net Zero Carbon Events Initiative, a leading industry initiative to address climate change. Virtual, in-person, and hybrid options provide networking opportunities, access to cutting edge technical literature, resources for continuing education, and innovative collaboration. In 2023, IEEE sponsored 2,121 conferences with 562,030 attendees. The 2023 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing (ICASSP) returned to an in-person experience in Rhodes Island, Greece, breaking records in participation with an increase of 50% in papers and more than 4,000 participants. The success of this returning summit proves the central role of signal processing in the development and success of AI. The IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) was hosted in London and set an all-time attendance record with 6,000 participants. The conference roster featured the most influential and innovative figures in the world of robotics and automation delivering plenary speeches, workshops, business talks, and other interactive activities. The IEEE Bangladesh Section and IEEE Kerala Section jointly organized the 9th IEEE International Women in Engineering (WIE) Conference in Kerala, India, uniting leaders of academic research and scholars to exchange their experiences and research.
MEMBERSHIP & PUBLIC IMPERATIVES: IEEE is a public charity with a global presence, but its impact starts at the local level, through its members and volunteers who actively work to improve the lives of others. IEEE serves as the home where like-minded and passionate individuals join together and help push technology to new frontiers. With 344 sections and more than 4,000 chapters worldwide, IEEE facilitates the active participation of thousands of members and volunteers, who help contribute to the IEEE mission. In 2023, IEEE had a total of 460,709 members from more than 190 countries worldwide, including 171,056 student members, and 391,074 society members from the 39 Technical Societies. In 2023 IEEE members and volunteers collaborated with leading organizations and continued delivering on technological advancements and solutions to address the world's most pressing challenges to shape a better future. COLLABORATING ON CLIMATE CHANGE: IEEE acts as a conduit, enabling collaboration between technology and engineering professionals, policymakers, and other organizations to foster on-going dialogue on sustainable energy policies and practices. A) The IEEE Technology Center for Climate was established to support collaboration and knowledge sharing with leading institutions to explore and implement technology to address climate change. B) IEEE climate change inventory of activities was developed to identify opportunities for further collaboration within IEEE and with other organizations. C) The "Net Zero Warriors" initiative was launched to motivate and facilitate key innovation and technology challenges in energy transition, to enable decarbonization across the energy spectrum. D) IEEE's Climate Change website (https://climate-change.ieee.org/) makes IEEE resources on climate change broadly accessible, allowing members and non-members to collaborate, participate, and engage with the IEEE Climate Change community. E) 2023 IEEE Sections Congress brought together over 1,000 participants from IEEE Sections across the globe and featured a Climate Change Pavilion highlighting over 50 climate change projects executed by local Sections, Societies, IEEE Young Professionals and more in support of sustainability efforts. FOCUS ON EDUCATION: IEEE continues to lead in the area of engineering and technology education, providing resources for pre-university, university, and continuing professional education. From innovative STEM and pre-university education and recognition programs through continuing professional education for practitioners and engineering faculty, IEEE inspires lifelong learning. A) The IEEE TryEngineering program empowers educators to foster the next generation of technology innovators, affording teachers the tools to integrate sustainability themes into lesson plans to encourage students. The IEEE TryEngineering website features a collection of resources including activities, lessons, and new in 2023, a specialized section on Climate Change. B) The IEEE EPICS in IEEE Access & Abilities Competition challenged IEEE student teams across the United States to develop engineering solutions to address accessibility challenges. Student projects included a soft exosuit for ambulatory patients with spinal muscular atrophy, a smart E-TRIKE with detachable wheels for disabled students, and a self-navigating robotic walking aid for the elderly. C) IEEE Education Week - a weeklong celebration of lifelong learning - highlights the diverse educational programs and resources available throughout IEEE for students, educators, and technical professionals. The second annual IEEE Education Week featured over 180 local and regional events, panels, talks, and workshops. D) IEEEXtreme, a global challenge in which thousands of teams of IEEE student members compete in a 24-hour time span to solve a set of real-world programming problems, continues to be popular with the next generation of technologists. More than 7,000 teams (17,000 individual team members) across 69 countries participated in IEEEXtreme 17.0. TECH ETHICS: IEEE continues to be very active in the intersection between technology and ethics. A) The IEEE TechEthics website (https://techethics.ieee.org/) provides access to technology ethics resources and information from across IEEE including education modules, articles, session recordings and ethics frameworks. B) The IEEE Standard for Age Appropriate Digital Services (IEEE 2089TM), which supports the growing need for designing digital products and services with the best interests of children in mind, has served as the foundation for laws in the UK and other regions. C) IEEE-USA hosted three meetings with the Congressional AI caucus where it shared insights on AI technology and workforce issues. IEEE-USA worked directly with federal regulators and congressional offices to help craft the rules that will govern AI technology in the United States. DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION: The IEEE Diversity and Inclusion Committee continued to incorporate DEI practices into IEEE Policies and Procedures throughout the organization. A volunteer toolkit was launched to bolster DEI initiatives throughout the IEEE community and support these ongoing activities in this area. HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS WORLDWIDE: IEEE is proud to engage and collaborate with global communities to help make our world a more sustainable, humane, and prosperous place. The IEEE Humanitarian Activities Committee (HAC) and Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology (SIGHT) funded and implemented numerous life-changing programs in 2023. A) IEEE Uganda Section installed a solar system comprised of six solar panels, two batteries, one inverter and a charging port to provide sustainable and clean energy to the Nyakinengo Health Centre, directly benefiting over 500 current patients and their families. B) IEEE Ecuador Section used its funding to implement a smart irrigation system to improve land production of crops, benefiting more than 350 people in the rural community of Cruz Loma. C) IEEE Malaysia Section designed and deployed an integrated solar lighting and camera surveillance system for a fishing village of 200 residents, to allow better understanding of crocodiles and their behavior in the area. D) IEEE Argentina Section set up a community garden, cheese production operations and refrigeration system to empower residents to engage in new income-generating activities. IEEE's Mobile Outreach Vehicle (MOVE) continues its mission to assist victims of natural disasters where volunteers provided critical communications infrastructure and support to federal resource centers and American Red Cross responders working in impacted communities. In 2023, IEEE expanded the MOVE program to provide outreach services to India and the Caribbean. More than 50 portable emergency solar mobile chargers and easily deployable solutions were assembled throughout the country of India. In 2023 IEEE MOVE responded to three disaster events in the United States - Hurricane Lee in New England, Hurricane Idalia in Florida, and the Mississippi tornados.
PERIODICALS: The IEEE Xplore(R) Digital Library is one of the world's largest collections of technical literature in engineering, computer science and related technologies with over 6.1 million documents available in its vast repository. In 2023, IEEE published 244,578 conference articles and 91,020 journal and magazine articles. IEEE's publishing program, in its efforts to drive enhancements in sustainability, had regular additions to the IEEE Climate Change Collection, featuring articles on the causes, mitigation, and adaption of climate change. IEEE continues to deliver groundbreaking research in its industry-leading publications and share its technical expertise around the world on the technologies that will shape the future. In 2023, IEEE reached a new milestone with over 100,000 open access articles published and now available in the IEEE Xplore Digital Library. Articles are from IEEE's hybrid journals, fully open access journals, and IEEE Access, which celebrated its 10-year publishing Anniversary this year. To commemorate the occasion, IEEE curated a collection of the top 10 most impactful IEEE Access articles over the last decade. IEEE reached a three-year open access agreement with Hellenic Academic Libraries Link (HEAL-Link), a consortium of over 43 Greek universities and institutions, as well as CRUE, a consortium of Spanish Universities. Greek and Spanish researchers belonging to participating institutions may now publish open access articles in approximately 200 IEEE journals and magazines, making them instantly available to the general public at no cost. IEEE maintains its position as one of the top publishers of science and technology journals, continuing to be a trusted source for communicating quality technical information that will help inspire and share the next breakthrough technologies.
STANDARDS: The IEEE Standards Association approved 188 new standards in 2023 for publication addressing biases, safety, privacy, transparency, and corporate governance to help ensure scientific integrity for the public. IEEE continued to grow its collection of standards geared towards sustainability, climate change, and overall social responsibility solutions: A) IEEE 1547, Series of standards covering the interconnection of distributed energy resources with electric power systems B) IEEE 1680.1, Standard for Environmental and Social Responsibility Assessment of Computers and Displays C) IEEE 1801, Standard for Design and Verification of Low-Power, Energy-Aware Electronic Systems D) IEEE 1888, Standard for Ubiquitous Green Community Control Network Protocol E) IEEE P2030.5, Standard for Smart Energy Profile Application Protocol F) IEEE P7802, Standard for Measurement and Verification of Reduction of Greenhouse Gases for Climate Action Projects and Solutions. G) IEEE 2089, Standard for Age Appropriate Digital Services IEEE makes selected Standards available free of charge through the IEEE GET Program, which aims to expand the global reach of technical knowledge developed by industry, accelerate adoption of IEEE standards, contribute to an open knowledge community, promulgate open information exchange to foster innovation, and connect IEEE with the development of world-changing technologies for the benefit of humanity. In 2023, IEEE introduced the GET Program for AI Ethics and Governance Standards, to expand free access to standards in artificial intelligence, ethics, and governance that provide guidance and considerations towards trustworthy AI.