IEEE ISTAS 2019 – the flagship event of IEEE Society for Social Implications of Technology (SSIT) took place in Boston from 15 – 16 November 2019. It was kindly hosted by the School of Engineering, Tufts University on its Medford Campus, MA.

Click here to download the IEEE ISTAS 2019 Report prepared by the IEEE ISTAS 2019 Organisers (Miriam Cunningham (Program and Publications Chair), Paul Cunningham (Conference Chair) and Michael Cardinale (Treasurer)).

IEEE ISTAS 2019 brought together engineers and policy makers, social scientists and technologists, graduate students and IEEE leadership including IEEE-USA President, IEEE Region 1 Director, IEEE Division VI Director-Elect 2020 and IEEE Division VI Society Presidents to share experiences and discuss the social, cultural, ethical and economic implications of technology.

IEEE ISTAS 2019 was Technical Co-sponsored by IEEE USA, IEEE Region 1, IEEE Boston Section, IEEE Standards, IEEE Product/Safety Engineering Society, IEEE Reliability Society, IEEE Education Society, IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, IEEE Professional Communication Society and IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society and supported by IEEE Humanitarian Activities Committee.

IEEE ISTAS 2019 attracted over 118 delegates from USA, Canada, Europe and Latin America. The feedback provided by delegates and presenters was very positive acknowledging the high-quality program and conference proceedings, opportunities to engage with IEEE leadership in a friendly collegiate atmosphere, as well as interactive knowledge sharing.

Links to Videos

Keynote Address – Engineering Workforce of the 21st Century, Dr Babak Beheshti, Director, IEEE Region 1, 16 Nov ’19

Plenary 3 – Impact of IEEE Division VI Societies Panel, 16 Nov 19

Plenary 4 – Brave New Brain-Tech: IEEE Neuroethics Program Development of Guidelines for Use of Neurotechnologies in Practice, 16 Nov 19

Outcomes from IEEE ISTAS 2019

The outcomes include:

• Lessons learnt from practitioners, researchers and policy makers shared during plenary and paper sessions that can be applied in ongoing and new projects undertaken by participants
• High quality networking facilitated between policy makers, practitioners, researchers, social scientists, engineers and technologists leading to new collaborations and strengthening current relationships
• Better understanding of the issues related to Sustainable Development / Societal Implications of technology / Humanitarian activities from a range of different perspectives
• Access to high quality proceedings in IEEE Xplore facilitates those who attended and those who were not able to attend to benefit from the knowledge and lessons learnt shared
• Opportunities for delegates to engage with IEEE USA President, IEEE Region 1 Director and Presidents of all Division VI Societies provided significant networking and collaboration opportunities for the future

IEEE ISTAS 2019 Proceedings

The IEEE ISTAS 2019 Proceedings is available in IEEE Xplore

IEEE ISTAS 2020

IEEE ISTAS is the flagship event of IEEE SSIT and takes place on an annual basis.

Preparations for IEEE ISTAS 2020 are ongoing and the Call for Papers will be published during Q1 2020.