IEEE President’s Note: Looking to 2050 and Beyond

What will the foreseeable future of the earth search like? Anything in the world evolves. For that reason, IEEE also will have to evolve, not only to survive but to thrive.

How will individuals build communities and engage with one particular another and with IEEE in the foreseeable future? How will expertise be acquired? How will material be curated, shared, and accessed? What problems will impact the enhancement of specialized requirements? How really should IEEE be structured to be most impactful?

Even though no just one has a crystal ball, predictions can be built based on evidence and traits. To begin the conversation all around these questions, I appointed the 2022 IEEE Advertisement Hoc Committee on IEEE in 2050. The committee chaired by IEEE Fellow Roger Fujii, is developed to visualize eventualities seeking out to the 12 months 2050 and over and above to get a world wide viewpoint of what the entire world may look like and what possible futures may possibly indicate for IEEE.

The committee explored plausible eventualities throughout IEEE’s variety of pursuits and scanned for drivers of adjust in just existing and emerging know-how fields. It also analyzed the purpose IEEE need to consider based on the determined opportunity futures and discussed following methods in IEEE’s major areas of emphasis, like conferences, training, publications, criteria, membership, sustainability, and governance.

For instance, consider that in 2050, your “cognitive electronic twin” is constantly browsing the big volumes of exploration papers and information stored throughout open up obtain repositories to discover info instantly relevant to your interests. It will also use its imaginative and imaginative logic to suggest new principles and options for you. This platform will be driven by artificial intelligence, augmented actuality, and digital actuality designed to assist make you extra productive and creative in your job. What is IEEE’s function in this new natural environment?

Molding the IEEE of the potential

As a global organization, a considerable challenge of IEEE is that it supports a broad neighborhood. This also presents a wonderful option to study and pilot numerous products, products and services, solutions, and alternatives to meet the assorted set of members’ wants predicted for 2050 and over and above.

The technological know-how technology of 2050 will possible be intrigued in solving mission-based challenges these as climate transform, universal obtain to overall health care, sustainable foodstuff resources, and ubiquitous electrical power generation and transmission. Consequently, IEEE’s mission—to advance technological know-how for humanity—will however be pertinent in the potential. Nevertheless, the way IEEE achieves its mission must and will improve.

The future is multinodular and digital. IEEE will profit from its position and reputation as a trustworthy, neutral supplier of written content and data. As a information service provider, IEEE has an opportunity to curate and supply information and facts to support its constituents and the public in comprehending the added benefits and pitfalls affiliated with numerous engineering parts. Most importantly, IEEE can support with the deep integration of artificial intelligence and virtual reality into a broad wide range of every day apps.

Adapting to an ecosystem of continual chaos and adjust is important relocating forward. The ebb and movement of geopolitical tensions are most likely to carry on to increase—which will affect worldwide companies like ours. IEEE need to develop into exceedingly nimble to address speedy variations in systems and interdisciplinary desires, and bring in a broader viewers. IEEE will also require to fast answer to selected strategic alterations and allocate funding for new methods. IEEE’s governance composition will require to be streamlined to meet the requirements of quite a few future scenarios that will have to have the firm to empower regional entities to make conclusions inside their space.

Trust in IEEE must remain high if the organization is to retain relevance and continue being a credible supply of information in the foreseeable future. Now is the time for the group to be thoughtful and daring, and consider risks. IEEE are unable to be scared to crack silos. Some things to do will require to be terminated to make area for new kinds. Solutions and initiatives really should be evaluated consistently, and decisions must be built on a continuous foundation.

Audio terrifying? Compounded by worldwide warming, uneven demographic development, and geopolitical issues, the long run probable is a lot more uncertain than we know. But generally a disaster can be reworked into prospect if we honestly confront the surprising and turn into ready for whatsoever lies in advance. Adhering to IEEE’s main principles—trust, expansion and nurturing, worldwide group making, partnership, assistance to humanity, and integrity in action—will serve the business properly into the long run.

I sincerely thank Roger Fujii and the ad hoc committee members for their initiatives. Their work will support IEEE in devising very long-term techniques to prepare for the long run, to adapt, and to transform uncertainty into chance.

As I have shared, in an ever-switching and unsure earth, IEEE—your expert home—is generally listed here for you, our members, as well as for humanity, and for our shared long term. Just after all, serving our users effectively is our raison d’être.

By addressing the problems and possibilities that lie in advance of us, IEEE can continue being a lively business with relevance equally now and effectively into 2050. If IEEE continues to be accurate to its central values—fostering technological innovation and excellence for the reward of humanity—I’m particular that the organization’s future will be really vivid certainly.

It has been my honor and privilege to function with and for you this yr as IEEE president and CEO.

—K.J. RAY LIU

IEEE president and CEO

Remember to share your ideas with me at [email protected].

This report seems in the December 2022 print challenge as “Looking to 2050 and Beyond.”