The President's Page The President's Page
This is my final message as President of the IEEE Communications Society. My term expires at the end of this month, when I will be succeeded by Nim Cheung. My first column in January 2004 was entitled "The Next Two Years...," so it is now fitting to briefly look back and reflect on the past two. As Leonard Bernstein said, "To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan and not quite enough time." My plan was to surround myself by enthusiastic, imaginative, dedicated, and skilled volunteers and staff. I did the former, and without a doubt there was never enough of the latter.
In preparing this page I turned to a small number of colleagues, among both our staff and ComSoc Board of Governors (BoG), asking them to share their recollections with me. I want to emphasize, however, that our volunteer community goes well beyond the BoG, actually a relatively small but very responsible body. As I have remarked at virtually every opportunity, it is impossible to acknowledge all who volunteer their services to the Society. They range from members of the BoG to conference chairs; from editors-in-chief to chapter officers; from sundry committee members (e.g., local arrangements, technical program, fellow evaluation, conference organizing) to those serving on the plethora of boards (publications, marketing, meetings and conferences, sister societies, standards, membership development, etc.); from Distinguished Lecturers to area editors, and subject-matter experts who review journal, transaction, magazine, and conference papers. They cannot be counted; their numbers are legion. To mention one is to inadvertently overlook another. To everyone who contributed, I extend my heartfelt thanks.
As my Presidential term began in 2004, Society staff had just relocated headquarters from 305 East 47th Street, New York City, to collocate with the IEEE Spectrum offices at 3 Park Avenue. There followed a spell of orientation and acclimation, since our new space was considerably smaller, although already leased by IEEE. Nevertheless, our staff and volunteer leadership made the move advantageous to both IEEE and the Society, and it resulted in a significant savings for the Communications Society and even larger economy for IEEE. The financial benefits were timely; I will say more about our fiscal situation later in this message.
That modest beginning was an auspicious prelude to many other positive accomplishments that followed. I might begin with publications, an area where I was once especially active. I'm pleased to observe that we maintain our august excellence in this important area of membership services. The Journal Citation Reports (Thomson Scientific — Institute of Scientific Information) "impact" listing for telecommunications ranks our seven publications as the top five, and numbers eight and fifteen. The fifth-ranked IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications first appeared as a standalone journal just under four years ago, January 2002. Moreover, this year we passed our IEEE Technical Activities Board (TAB) five-year publications review with flying colors, and are held up as an example to other IEEE societies and councils. (Parenthetically, the Communications Society simultaneously completed its TAB five-year Society review.) IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials has been added to the IEEE Electronic Library, and both it and the all-electronic Transactions on Network and Service Management (eTNSM) were added to our ComSoc Digital Library. We are also completing the first stage of requesting TAB approval of eTNSM as our newest journal. This will be a novel thrust — an online-only Transactions, akin to Communications Surveys and Tutorials. Additionally, two quarterly supplements were added to IEEE Communications Magazine ("Optical Networking Communications" and "Radio Communications"), and incipient planning is underway for another, "Communications Applications." Less visible to readers, but nevertheless extremely important, new production workflow methods were introduced for IEEE Communications Letters and IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications that will both improve author service and significantly reduce our internal costs — indeed, we are leading IEEE with these innovations. Finally, the Society updated its digital archive (Communications Engineering Technology) — a DVD product that has already garnered approximately $200,000 in 2005 revenue. To the folks — both volunteer and staff — who made these advances happen, we offer our applause!
It is important that ComSoc serve its members and the at-large community of communications professionals. During the past two years important steps have been made in this area. First, the number of new chapters, especially outside the United States, was significantly increased: in 2003 there were 150 chapters; now there are 169. As I write this note, several others are in the midst of the petition process. All chapters receive conference proceedings for six of our major conferences: IEEE International Conference on Communications, IEEE Global Communications Conference, IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications, IEEE Consumer Communications and Networking Conference, IFIP/
IEEE International Symposium on Integrated Network Management, and IEEE Conference on Sensor and Ad Hoc Communications and Networks. As a step toward better serving these chapters, the list of Distinguished Lecturers (now at 38) has been revised, with the number of Distinguished Lecturer tours per year totaling 20. At the same time, new requirements have been added for chapters requesting funding, including having a Membership Development Chair and providing more complete financial disclosure.
In addition to our chapters, we have long maintained cordial ties with numerous Related and Sister Societies. Notably, during the past two years alone, ComSoc formally renewed its agreements with 11 Sister Societies. Complementing the customary sharing of discounted cross-member meetings and conferences registration and publications subscriptions, and promoting each other's events, new possibilities are being explored. We came to recognize that a key dimension of inviting stimulus is member benefiting member. This requires transcending our technical commonality to identifying with each other on a cultural, societal, and economic plane that includes topics such as the "digital divide" and shared research initiatives. We have also initiated closer contacts with the China Institute of Communications and the Chinese Institute of Electronics, in advance of other IEEE major initiatives planned for 2006 and IEEE ICC 2008 in Beijing. Such contacts are expected to lead to important collaborations between ComSoc and leading professional societies in China, an emerging "market" for our products and services. In the area of Related Societies, we have had an engaging dialog with the IEEE-USA Committee on Communications and Information Policy regarding their lobbying activities, and proposed adding qualifying comments to their press releases, public statements, and policy recommendations that would clarify their relationship with IEEE and the IEEE Communications Society.
Moreover, 41 online educational modules (known as Tutorials NowTM) were introduced — I invite you to visit www.comsoc.org to see the complete list. This is only part of our enhanced online content, to which I now turn — but first, my thanks to all who played a role in this progress.
The professional community is increasingly turning toward online content. We were among the leaders in IEEE helping make this possible, dating back to the early 1990s when this transition was spearheaded. Very prominent steps were taken to make online content more accessible and valuable to all who visit our site. As a start, IEEE Web accounts were integrated into member access. To our IEEE Communications Ontology ("CommOntology"), patent citations and key advertiser modules were added, as were IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials and eTNSM. A significant personalization capability was introduced ("My ComSoc"), which includes monthly email notification of published articles ("clickable" for immediate retrieval) that match a user-provided profile, including favorite topics, authors, or publications. A thread that ties much of this together is an expanded hierarchical topic structure that eases article search and indexing. To better manage and update these capabilities — and more — we investigated and then committed to better leveraging our own ComSoc staff by using creative outsourcing and developing content management tools, while also studying capabilities for email marketing.
Technical activities are one of ComSoc's mainstays. And there is plenty of great news to share. To begin, 49 members of the Communications Society were elected IEEE Fellows this past year — our largest "class" ever — and we are introducing our own modest but special recognition for these outstanding individuals. On an entirely separate front, ComSoc is now decisively making its presence known in the area of standards: We elevated the position of Chair of a Standing Committee to that of a Director, with a reporting Standards Board. In particular, under the aegis of the IEEE Standards Association, ComSoc is at the forefront of facilitating the IEEE P1900.x series of standards for spectrum management and cognitive radio, as well as the development of standards for broadband communications over power lines, the latter identified as IEEE P1901.x. It is noteworthy to add that the IEEE P1901 standardization project is organized as "corporate only" (one company; one vote), and is now supported and funded by 25 major companies in this young industry. Our engagement with cognitive radio standards is being done in collaboration with the IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Society, while power line communications safety and interference measurements are done in collaboration with both the IEEE EMC and IEEE Power Engineering Societies. Standards were a key initiative when I began my term. It is wonderful to recognize that so much has been accomplished, so quickly. There are surely many thank you's to convey.
Immediately related to the above are special new conference initiatives. In 2006 ComSoc will sponsor (with the IEEE Power Engineering Society) the IEEE International Symposium on Power Line Communications and Its Applications, ISPLC 2006. Furthermore, two new conferences have been launched: IEEE International Symposium on New Frontiers in Dynamic Spectrum Access Networks (IEEE DySPAN), a conference stimulated by industry, government, and academia on the future of wireless communications and spectrum utilization. It will bring together participants from the regulatory, policy-making, and legal communities. The second new conference carries the descriptive name IEEE Communications Society Conference on Sensor and Ad Hoc Communications and Networks (IEEE SECON). In addition to these events, ComSoc has technically co-sponsored several other first-time conferences during the past two years.
It is difficult for me to keep up with the pace of technical innovation and the volunteers who respond so adroitly. So I would be remiss to not mention CCNC again. After only a two-year infancy, it is emerging as one of the Society's most vibrant venues and is clearly placing at the forefront one of the Society's principal strategic technical directions. It is gathering significant support from industry and will be the first of our conferences to adopt a three-tier registration (non-IEEE member, IEEE member, and IEEE ComSoc member) — a step thoroughly discussed within the Board and intended to stimulate membership in the Society. Furthermore, after much discussion, the Board decided to vigorously promote poster sessions at our conferences, with CCNC and SECON quick to capitalize on this thrust. (Poster session papers will appear in conference proceedings and are subject to the same high-quality peer review as that received by orally presented papers.) Finally, several of our major conferences are making specific plans for invigorated exhibitions to accompany the familiar technical programs.
With rapidly changing technology, there is little time for the Society to congratulate itself on past accomplishments; to whit, the newest conferences mentioned immediately above, and creating new technical committees. Within the past two years ComSoc's Emerging Technologies Committee has become an incubator for new technical committees. The newest are Ad hoc and Sensor Communications and Networks, Broadband Over Power Line, Communications Design and Development, and Communications and Information Security. This is the largest group of new Technical Committees in a very long time, and others are gestating. (In case you were wondering ... yes, some Technical Committees are occasionally "sunsetted.")
My January 2005 message commented on internal issues facing the Society. These are not especially "glamorous." I found some emotionally draining. They were nevertheless extremely important. And in most cases, needed change did not come about easily. However, there is a Russian saying, "Tyajela ti shapka manomakha" — "The crown of the czar is very heavy." Although I have never met a czar, I have been President of the Communications Society. The metaphor is understandable.
In my mind, one of the most prominent issues confronted was our challenging financial situation. Few will disagree that it is best to fix a leaky roof during dry weather. Unfortunately, we found ourselves in a downpour. In my January 2004 Presidential Page I expressed the hope that we had steered through "troubled and uncertain waters into much calmer seas." I was wrong, demonstrating that ComSoc Presidents might be great mariners, but almost certainly not good meteorologists. Reeling from the down draft of the telecom bust, recent budgets had been deeply in the red. At the beginning of my term as President, the IEEE TAB Finance Committee already had us on their "watch list," so it was definitely time to improve our financial picture.
When I took office, the 2004 budget — committed in 2003 — projected a surplus of approximately $100,000, hence my anticipation of smooth sailing. Instead, our budgeted revenue fell far short and expenses were only slightly better than expected, resulting in a 2004 deficit of approximately $500,000, a gap of $600,000. Coming on the heels of four prior years of deficits (2000–2003), the Society remained on the "watch list." Improvement in our fiscal situation were mandated, but even with $750,000 in reduced expenses and improved revenue (for 2005), we still project a deficit of $200,000. As I type these words, the situation looks no better for 2006. Regardless, IEEE TAB FinCom (on which I also serve) officially has ComSoc on the "watch list" for 2006, and has obligated the Communications Society to be in the black by 2007. Our prospects are improving. We anticipate a turnaround in advertising revenues, stimulated not just by improving market conditions, but also new electronic-based advertising initiatives already in place; larger publications-related IEEE revenues likely to come our way by virtue of the international acclaim and use of our intellectual property; revenue enhancement from meetings and conferences, whose financial performance is more consistent with internal and external realities, and now more closely tracked; greater sales of our educational products (e.g., TutorialsNow); plus several new steps that will significantly improve our internal expense structure — I previously commented on new in-house production workflows for publications; I should now mention imaginative steps being taken to capitalize the purchase of certain conference support equipment (e.g., LCD projectors and wireless LAN gear). Furthermore, I am hopeful that rather than spending to a line item budget limit, individual initiatives will receive careful forethought and be considered on the basis of program merit.
I find it awkward to comment on the business side of the Communications Society, but reality is real. Only with a positive revenue stream can the Society be poised to offer the services, some traditional and others new, that members and non-members need and expect from the world's leading professional society of communications technologists, engineers, and scientists!
Our budgetary crisis served as a stimulus to examine other aspects of our internal operations. To begin addressing these concerns an ad hoc Operations Review Committee (ORC) was created. It proved especially effective in suggesting improvements to our financial monitoring and approval processes, and delineating staff and volunteer responsibilities, especially with regard to meetings and conferences. Much work remains to be done in these and other areas.
While on the theme of infrastructure improvements, at least six other notable accomplishments should be mentioned. In no particular order:
On a more somber note, we sadly marked the September 2004 passing of our dear friend and colleague, Hal Sobol. Recognizing his contributions to IEEE and especially to the IEEE Communications Society, the meeting and conference service award was renamed in his honor: IEEE Communications Society Harold Sobol Award for Exemplary Service to Meetings and Conferences. Hal's absence leaves a void in our hearts. The emptiness will not heal for many years, nor do we want to forget him and his influence.
I previously mentioned that Nim Cheung becomes President next month. I have known him for many years and am confident that he will serve with special distinction. He brings prominent experience, noteworthy accomplishments, professional stature, and genuine statesmanship to the position. I join everyone in wishing him much success and personal satisfaction. And while it is tempting for me to speculate on what the next two years might hold, it is far more appropriate that I hand the helm to Nim, so that in due time he will share his own perspectives and introduce his leadership team. I also want to recognize Celia Desmond, most recent Past President, for tutoring me during my first year. Alas, one year is hardly enough, so let me also acknowledge those who held my hand and led me — both personally and professionally — along the 25-year path to the presidency of this prestigious and esteemed Society. You know who you are! It has been my loftiest professional achievement and privilege to serve.
In closing, for two years I speculated on the opportunity to share some nugget of wisdom with you as my term concluded. I wondered what it might be. Consequently, as time passed I kept my heart and eyes open for some single eloquent phrase that might, more than another, capture the tenor of this tenure, a lesson that we could all take to heart. I offer the following comment from Albert Einstein:
"…Desire for approval and recognition is a healthy motive; but the desire to be acknowledged as better, stronger, or more intelligent than a fellow being or fellow scholar easily leads to an excessively egoistic psychological adjustment, which may become injurious for the individual and for the community..."
Best wishes!