IEEE SIGHT Steering Committee meeting at GHTC 2017

2017 IEEE SIGHT steering committee members gathered for a face-to-face meeting on 19th October at GHTC 2017 in San Jose, California, USA. IEEE SIGHT has come a long way since its inception but the challenge we face is massive. Therefore, the meeting’s objective was to discuss the 2017 activities and plan future activities so that IEEE SIGHT can assist in the sustainable development of communities using our expertise and our local feet on the ground represented by IEEE members.

Tim Lee, IEEE SIGHT’s Chair, gave an introductory presentation reflecting on the fundamentals of IEEE SIGHT and  vision of 2017 IEEE SIGHT. As the communications subcommittee Chair, I presented six communication strategies already implemented to enhance the visibility, publicity and branding of IEEE SIGHT and provided eight future plans to improve the  awareness about  IEEE SIGHT. Pritpal Singh, 2017 Education Subcommittee Chair; Glenn McKnight, Founder and Chair of IEEE Toronto SIGHT; and Vineeth Vijayaraghavan, 2017 Communities of Practice Subcommittee Co-Chairs, and Simay Akar, 2017 Engagement Subcommittee Chair reported their committee updates. Samar Baba, Chair of IEEE SIGHT Tunisia, was invited to present on SIGHT activities in Tunisia.

Looking forward, the committee Chairs discussed where we would like for this program to go and how we can get there. Therefore, the discussion during the meeting included the recap of 2017 activities, a brainstorming session for plans for 2018 and mid-course adjustments. Tim expressed his intention that over the next several months he will formulate and update the vision of how all the humanitarian and philanthropic groups within IEEE can and should work together. We can all come together as ONE IEEE in terms of efficiencies, branding, and reduction of overlaps.

Holly Schneider Brown, IEEE’s Director of Public Imperatives and Corporate Development, provided her valuable input that helped reshape the thought process and plans. Tim and the subcommittee chairs thanked Jackie Holliday, IEEE SIGHT staff lead, for her tireless support and keeping us all on track!

Reported by Celia Shahnaz, Ph.D, 2017 Communications Chair, IEEE SIGHT steering Committee