IEEE SSIT Newsletter – January 2017

By on January 16th, 2017 in Newsletter

SIT Newsletter header
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In this issue: SSIT Board of Governors election results, awards and publications notices, and conference reminders.announcements header

Happy New Year!

2016 was an exciting year for IEEE SSIT, with especially impressive membership growth stats. In fact, the November IEEE Membership Report confirmed that SSIT maintains its status as the IEEE Society with the fastest membership growth rate. Its 5.3% growth is more than seven times higher than the overall IEEE (which comes in at 0.7%).

The Board of Governors looks forward to continuing recruitment efforts in 2017!


SSIT Board of Governors Election Results

The results are in, so please join us in welcoming the following three newly elected members to the SSIT Board of Governors:

Michael Cardinale Ramalatha Marimuthu Howard Wolfman

The Board of Governors would like to warmly acknowledge the contributions of John Impagliazzo, Ken Foster and Brad Kjell, whose terms as BoG members ended in 2016. In addition, the BoG would like to extend a special thanks to Laura Edelson and Greg Adamson for their dedication and contribution to SSIT. Laura has now completed her term as Past President, the role Greg will take over this year.

Several key SSIT leadership roles are changing hands in 2017, so stay tuned for additional updates about and introductions to the new roster in upcoming newsletters.

New issue of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

The December 2016 issue of the IEEE Technology and Society Magazine is now available! Be sure to check out the special section on the “Unintended Consequences of Technology.” This is the second of two “installments” focused on “The Paradox of Technological Potential.” Part one of this subject is in the September/October 2016 issue of IEEE Potentials.


Prof. Pradeep Kumar Ray has been recognized as a Shanghai 1000 Talent Plan “Distinguished Professor.” He is one of four long-term international professors at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) to receive this award.

Congratulations!

The following upcoming conferences will be of interest to SSIT members:

IST-Africa Week 2017
8-11 May 2017, Windhoek, Namibia

Hosted by the government of Namibia through the National Commission on Research, Science and Technology, supported by the European Commission and African Union Commission, and technically co-sponsored by IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology (SSIT), IEEE Region 8 and IEEE South Africa Section, IST-Africa Week 2017 is the twelfth in an annual series of ministerial level technology research and innovation conferences.

Core thematic areas for IST-Africa 2017 include:

  • mHealth, eHealth and health information systems
  • Technology-enhanced learning and eskills
  • mAgriculture/eAgriculture and environmental sustainability
  • eInfrastructures and National Research and Education Networks (NREN)
  • Next generation computing: big data, cloud computing, future internet, Internet of Things
  • eGovernment-services to citizens and business
  • Content technologies: languages; digital preservation
  • Cyber security, privacy and trust
  • Collaborative open innovation and ICT-enabled entrepreneurship (including social entrepreneurship)
  • Sustainable development including ICT4D
  • Societal implications of technology

For more information, please visit our website.

Follow IST-Africa on Twitter to get regular updates.

For further information, please email Secretariat@IST-Africa.org.


IEEE 2017 International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS 2017)
From Good Ideas to Practical Solutions

9-11 August, 2017, Sydney, Australia


The SSIT Board of Governors is pleased to announce that ISTAS 2017 will be held in Sydney, Australia. The date and location of ISTAS 2017 has been chosen to coincide with the annual IEEE Panel of Conference Organizers (IEEE POCO) event, which will be held in Sydney from 7-9 August, and the biennial IEEE Sections Congress, which will also be held in Sydney 11-13 August, 2017.

The theme for ISTAS 2017 is “From Good Ideas to Practical Solutions”, and is designed to focus on how we can identify a good technological idea and transition it into a practical solution that delivers real benefits to society. It will bring together scientists, engineers, technologists and scholars from multiple disciplines to hold a dialogue on many technological and societal issues, and collaborate on the co-creation of ideas to develop and utilize innovative solutions to address them.

Call for Papers
The ISTAS 2017 program structure provides for six keynote speakers, 72 oral and paper presentations, and 12 panels across three parallel tracks.

Paper proposals are solicited for oral presentations from industry, government and academia (including students) covering relevant research, technologies, methodologies, tools and case studies relevant to the conference theme and tracks. Papers on policy implications are also welcome. Full papers will be published in the Conference Proceedings. Papers accepted in the conference proceedings and presented during the conference will be submitted for inclusion in IEEE Xplore.

ISTAS 2017 Tracks:

  • Smart materials, smart buildings and smart cities
  • Climate, environment and sustainable technologies
  • Communications, security and privacy
  • Artificial intelligence and autonomous systems
  • e-Health, age care and assisted living
  • Internet of things and consumer electronics
  • Digital senses, virtual reality and augmentation
  • Web science and big data
  • Green ICT
  • Defense technologies for public good
  • Humanitarian and emergency management
  • Ethics, law and policy

Key Dates:

28 February 2017 – Submission deadline for paper abstracts
13 March 2017 – Notification of acceptance
15 May 2017 – Final manuscript submission deadline

For details including information for authors, please visit the conference website. General inquiries should be addressed to the ISTAS 2017 General Chair, Philip Hall at philip.hall@ieee.org.

SSIT complements the thematic focus of all other IEEE Societies and Technical Councils and is making a clear contribution in a variety of educational and policy contexts aligned with SSIT priority areas. SSIT would like to recruit volunteers to help scale and lead activities in the following areas:

  • Global development and humanitarian technology
  • Ethics, human values and technology
  • Technology benefits for all
  • Future societal impact of technology advances
  • Protecting the planet – sustainable technology

SSIT has also been invited to contribute to the work of two TAB Adhoc Committees during 2017:

    • 2017 IEEE TAB Ad-hoc Committee on Dig Once
      This Adhoc will focus on how IEEE can participate in and augment this policy initiative to couple the addition of broadband infrastructure with existing infrastructure improvements. This may include aspects such as technology (best practices), education (informing governments and utilities) and more. Previous relevant experience and/or civil engineering background are desirable.
  • 2017 IEEE TAB Adhoc Committee on North and South Poles
    The main focus of this adhoc Committee is to seek in which ways IEEE can efficiently contribute to the different ongoing and planned initiatives to study and address the changes that the North and South poles are experiencing from the environmental, communications, transportation, educational and outreach points of view.

If you believe you or a respected colleague can make a substantial contribution in any of these areas, please contact Paul Cunningham, 2017 SSIT President, at pcunningham@ieee.org by 31 January 2017, describing the contribution the nominee can make and provide a short supporting CV highlighting previous relevant experience.

Stay Up-to-Date with IEEE SSIT Happenings

Visit the SSIT Blog for news items and the latest Society updates.


Newsletter Submission Guidelines

If you would like to submit a news item, SSIT-related update, volunteer opportunity, Call For Papers, award notice, or idea for a “Feature Article” for a future issue of the SSIT newsletter, please contact the editor Dr. Heather Love at Heather.Love@usd.edu.

Submissions for the February 2017 newsletter are due 26 January 2017.