This month’s President’s Page features Stefano Bregni, serving on the IEEE Board of Directors as Division III Director (2024–2025). Stefano also serves as a voting member on the Board of Governors of the IEEE Communications Society and as the Director for Conferences Operations.

Prof. Stefano Bregni is with Politecnico di Milano, Italy. He graduated in Electronics Engineering in 1990. After nine years in the industry, he joined Politecnico di Milano in 1999. He contributed to ETSI/ITU-T Standards on network synchronization. He is the author of 100+ papers and a widely recognized book on network synchronization (Wiley, 2002). He has served as a tireless IEEE volunteer for more than 25 years. In 2022, he was elected to the IEEE Board of Directors as Division III Delegate-Elect/Director-Elect to serve as Division III Director for 2024–2025. He has been a voting member of the IEEE Conferences Committee (2019–2020). In the IEEE Communications Society, currently he is the Director for Conferences Operations (2024–2025), while in the past he served as Vice-President for Conferences (2018–2019, 2020–2021), Vice-President for Member and Global Activities (2014–2015, 2016–2017), Member-at-Large on the Board of Governors (2010–2013), Director Education (2008–2011), Chair of the Transmission, Access, Optical Systems (TAOS) Technical Committee (2008–2009). He was an IEEE ComSoc Distinguished Lecturer for seven years. He has been Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE ComSoc Global Communications Newsletter since 2007. He is co-founder and Co-Chair of the IEEE ComSoc Student Competition. He has many years of experience in the technical program management and organization of ComSoc conferences. Among his many service appointments over the last 20 years, he is or has been General Vice-Chair of GLOBECOM 2022, Technical Program Co-Chair of WCNC 2026, GLOBECOM 2023 and ICC 2016, Technical Program Vice-Chair of GLOBECOM 2012 and GLOBECOM 2009, Symposium Co-Chair in nine other ICC/GLOBECOMs, Chair of the Steering Committee of the IEEE Latin-American Conference on Communications (IEEE LATINCOM). He received the IEEE ComSoc/KICS Exemplary Global Service Award (2019) and the IEEE ComSoc Hal Sobol Award for Exemplary Service to Meetings & Conferences (2014).

In the following, Stefano will provide an overview of IEEE’s organization and report on recent initiatives and developments.

About IEEE

IEEE is the largest technical professional organization in the world. It is dedicated to fostering technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. It aims to be, and we agree it is, the trusted voice for engineering, computing, and technology information around the globe. It is universally recognized for its contributions to technology and scientific research. The IEEE community inspires engineers and researchers worldwide in electrical and electronics disciplines through its highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities.

IEEE is a vast and complex organization that strongly influences electrical and electronics engineers’ scientific and professional activities worldwide. To summarize some main facts:

• IEEE enrolls some 486,000 Members and nearly 190,000 Student Members from more than 190 countries (about 1/3 from the United States, 1/3 from Asia and Pacific, and 1/5 from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa);
• From a geographic perspective, IEEE is organized in 347 Sections around the world, further articulated in 2,815 Chapters, which unite local members with similar technical interests (that is, members of the Society) and nearly 8000 Student Branches (a.k.a. geographic organization units);
• From a technical perspective, IEEE is organized into 39 Societies and 8 Councils, representing the broad scope of IEEE technical interests;
• IEEE currently includes more than 6 million documents in the IEEE Xplore® Digital Library (the number keeps growing each year);
• IEEE has an active portfolio of more than 1000 Standards and more than 1000 standardization projects under current development;
• IEEE publishes more than 200 Transactions, Journals, Magazines, and Newsletters;
• IEEE sponsors (that is, actively organizes or technically supports) more than 2000 conferences and technical events in more than 100 countries every year (4.5 million papers currently on IEEE Xplore have been contributed by conferences since 1936);
• IEEE has more than 1000 employees who support the operation of various IEEE activities.

Organization of the IEEE

The overall organization and governing structure of IEEE are very complex. The vast majority of IEEE members are unaware of such complexity, as in most cases, their field of technical interest or volunteering activity remains limited to the scope of the main Society in which they are enrolled. This section outlines the main lines of the IEEE organization and leadership structure.

IEEE Member and Global Activities (MGA)

From a geographic perspective (MGA), IEEE is divided into 10 Regions: Regions 1-6 for the USA, Region 7 for Canada, Region 8 for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), Region 9 for Latin America (LA), and Region 10 for Asia and Pacific (AP).

This structure still reflects the historical legacy of most members residing in the USA. Today, about one-third of IEEE Members are distributed in Regions 1-6 (i.e., USA) and one-third in Region 10 alone (i.e., Asia and Pacific). Therefore, the current regional structure is under reorganization and will be rearranged soon, expanding the number of Regions.

Within the ten Regions, IEEE Sections are the local “arm” of IEEE and fulfill the mission of IEEE, providing a professional home for members. Aligned under Sections, the Society Chapters gather local members with similar technical interests under the scope of the Society in which they are enrolled. Moreover, Student Members can actively contribute to IEEE by organizing in Student Branches. IEEE Sections, Chapters, and Student Branches organize local technical events, serving the local community.

IEEE Technical Societies and Councils (and Divisions)

Regarding technical activities, IEEE is organized into 39 societies, serving members within specialized fields of interest. Councils are groups of societies working together in broad technology areas. Societies represent either an identifiable segment of the electrical and electronics industries or a discipline that applies to different industries and functions. Societies and Councils sponsor (i.e., organize) technical events, publications, and educational activities and develop standards.

While IEEE has corporate Headquarters and Staff in Piscataway, NJ, USA, who support the activities of the IEEE as a whole, each Society may have dedicated Staff and even separate headquarters. For example, our IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc) has dedicated Staff and a central office in Manhattan, New York City.

IEEE ComSoc is the third-largest IEEE society in terms of members. The only two larger Societies are the Computer Society (CS) and the Power & Energy Society (PES).

MGA Regions should have comparable “size,” that is, enroll a comparable number of members, or at least they had when the current structure of ten Regions was defined. On the other hand, societies and councils are communities naturally of very different sizes because of the higher or lower specificity of their subject areas. To cope with this issue and to give a fair representation of all communities, the Board of Directors, Societies, and Councils are clustered into 10 Divisions.

A Division is typically composed of one or more Societies and may include one or more Councils. With one notable exception, as indicated below, Societies and Councils are represented in only one Division. The specific composition of each Division is specified in IEEE governing documents. IEEE Computer Society is a unique case, represented by two Divisions: V and VIII (no other Society is associated with them). IEEE ComSoc is represented by Division III (one-to-one). Smaller Societies and Councils are clustered in one Division.

IEEE Leadership: the Board of Directors

Among various top leadership positions, IEEE Members elect:

• Each year, a new President (who serves for three years, as President-elect, as President and CEO, and finally as Past-President);
• Every two years the MGA Region Directors and the Division Directors; for example, the members of the IEEE ComSoc elect the Division III Director, while the members residing in Latin America elect the Region 9 Director.

The President chairs the IEEE Board of Directors, which comprises the three IEEE Presidents, the Vice Presidents, and the Chairs of the six major Boards (see below), the Secretary, the Treasurer, the ten MGA Region Directors, and the ten Division Directors. On the Board of Directors, The MGA Region Directors individually represent the IEEE Regions, while the Division Directors represent the technical areas covered by the IEEE’s whole scope.

The Board of Directors is the governing body of the IEEE. It is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the IEEE, overseeing its budget and operations, and ensuring that its mission and goals are met using resources efficiently and effectively. Furthermore, the Board oversees IEEE governance and ethical practices, ensuring the organization operates with integrity and transparency. In conclusion, the Board of Directors comprises elected members representing different regions, technical societies, and organizational units within the IEEE.

IEEE Major Boards

Six subordinate Boards govern IEEE’s main areas of interest, each led by an elected volunteer (Vice President or Chair), namely the following.

• Educational Activities Board (EAB) oversees educational activities and policies. It is responsible for promoting and developing educational activities within the organization at the local and global levels, including developing educational resources and organizing conferences and workshops. The EAB represents IEEE in continuing and professional engineering education, accreditation, and pre-university programs.
• Member and Geographic Activities (MGA) Board, which ensures quality opportunities for the continuous engagement of Members. Its official vision is to “Inspire, Enable, Empower and Engage Members of IEEE” to fulfill the mission of IEEE, enhancing the members’ growth and development and providing them with a professional home. It serves the needs of all IEEE members by maintaining, enhancing, and supporting the geographic units of IEEE. In a nutshell, the MGA Board is responsible for membership and member development.
• Publication Services and Products Board (PSPB) oversees IEEE publications, including all its journals, magazines, newsletters, and conference proceedings. It establishes and enforces policies and procedures related to IEEE publications and products, ensuring their quality and relevance. To name a few, PSPB determines the IEEE Policies for the quality of published items, copyright and IP issues, open access, and publishing technical standards. The PSPB oversees the publishing process from manuscript submission and peer review to publication.
• Standards Association (SA) Board develops and publishes standards for a wide range of industries and technologies through a consensus-based process involving participation from industry, academia, government, and other stakeholders. IEEE SA builds consensus to nurture, develop, and advance global technologies. IEEE Standards cover various topics, including communications, computing, energy, biomedical and healthcare, information technology, etc. IEEE Standards are countless and pervade our everyday lives. To mention just two: Ethernet and WiFi.
• Technical Activities Board (TAB) oversees all technical activities of the organization, provides strategic direction and guidance, and ensures that they align with the IEEE mission, vision, and strategic objectives. TAB manages the IEEE Technical Societies, Councils, and Committees. It is the “technical engine” of the IEEE.
• IEEE-USA Board, the governing body of IEEE USA, is the unit of the IEEE that represents the interests of IEEE members in the USA before US governmental bodies in matters related to engineering, technology, and public policy.

Ad-Hoc Committees

To achieve specific goals, every year, the IEEE President establishes a number of Ad Hoc Committees, that is, working groups tasked to analyze and propose solutions for certain open issues that call for specific and urgent attention.

For example, the Ad-Hoc Committees appointed by the IEEE President in 2025 are addressing critical issues such as, among others, improving processes to handle misconduct, education strategies, and how to serve students’ needs better.

To give further diverse examples, in the past, Ad-Hoc Committees addressed other significant topics, such as agreeing on IEEE’s response to climate change, IEEE’s response to digital reality technologies, and identifying new funding models.

Initiatives, Activities, and Challenges

Beyond the IEEE macro-structure of Societies, Councils, and Boards highlighted above, the number of committees, working groups, and communities working under the IEEE organization is overwhelming. The variety of technical and non-technical topics, addressed in different ways by large to small groups and communities established in IEEE, is extremely wide. If that was not enough, the complexity of the hierarchical structure and the nomenclature discourage anyone from approaching the organization as a new volunteer.

In this section, we will give a brief overview, certainly not exhaustive, of some of the most important initiatives, activities, and challenges on which IEEE leaders and working groups are presently focused.

Increase of IEEE Membership

The good news is that IEEE membership has continuously grown over the last few years. The number of IEEE members counted in January 2021 was about 407,000; in January 2022, about 421,000 (i.e., +3.5%); in January 2023, about 440,000 (i.e., +4.4%); in January 2024, about 474,000 (i.e., +7.8%).

Let us note that the number of members should be compared over the years, counting in the same months, because it exhibits a pseudo-periodic trend over the 12 months due to technical reasons (in particular, the process of membership renewal and expiration does not happen uniformly over the 12 months).

Looking at our Society, in particular, the growth rate of ComSoc is well-positioned in the ranking of all Societies. In the last couple of years, our growth has been much higher than the overall growth of the whole IEEE.

IEEE Data Port

IEEE Data Port, as defined on its website (https://ieee-dataport.org), is the IEEE research data platform designed to make scientific data openly accessible to all and to help researchers and institutions to share research, manage their data, and collaborate with peers.

IEEE Data Port was considered by many not much more than an ambitious experiment when it was launched a bit more than 5 years ago. In these few years, its usage has exploded exponentially due to the increased funding and the joint efforts by Staff and Volunteers. In 2024, it reached the impressive figures of more than 11 million users, and about 7,000 data sets online, uploaded by research teams worldwide to enable independent research on a shared database. From a few tens of thousands of accesses recorded in 2020, the number of dataset views has exploded exponentially and now largely exceeds one million per year! The target is to double again the number of users in 2025.

The categories of datasets span a broad range, and the most popular subjects are Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Image Processing, Signal Processing, Computer Vision, Power and Energy, Biomedical and Health Sciences, Communications, Sensors, and the Internet of Things. Regrettably, Communications is not the most popular category (yet?). We encourage all ComSoc members to consider using the IEEE Data Port platform.

IEEE Medal of Honor Prize Increased to USD 2 Million

Established in 1917 to recognize key advances in radio technologies, the IEEE Medal of Honor is now the IEEE’s most prestigious award. Highly regarded worldwide, the IEEE Medal of Honor is recognized as one of the most esteemed honors in the science and technology fields. It is presented to an individual or a team of up to three who have made exceptional contributions or had extraordinary careers in technology, engineering, and science in the IEEE fields of interest. In a nutshell, the IEEE Medal of Honor is given for work that benefits humanity.

Past recipients of the IEEE Medal of Honor include Robert E. Kahn (2024), Vinton G. Cerf (2023), Andrew J. Viterbi (2010), Gordon E. Moore (2008), Robert M. Metcalfe (1996), William Shockley (1980), Rudolf E. Kalman (1974), Claude E. Shannon (1966), Harry Nyquist (1960), and Guglielmo Marconi (1920). This is indeed a Pantheon in the scope of IEEE disciplines.

Starting in 2025, the monetary prize associated with the Medal has been increased to USD $2 Million (shared equally among recipients if more than one). According to the official IEEE Press Release, by increasing the monetary prize, IEEE has elevated the Medal of Honor to its rightful place as one of the world’s most prestigious technology-focused prizes and awards.

The 2025 Medal of Honor Laureate was announced at a dedicated press conference in New York City last February: Henry Samueli, with citation “For pioneering research and commercialization of broadband communication and networking technologies, and promotion of STEM education.”

Initiative on Climate Change

The primary mission of IEEE is to advance technology for the benefit of humanity. As stated in the official mission statement of IEEE for Climate Change, today, the world faces its most significant modern-day threat: climate change. IEEE is committed to helping combat and mitigate the effects of climate change through pragmatic and accessible technical solutions and providing engineers and technologists with a neutral space for discussion and action.

So, practically speaking, what can IEEE do to pursue that ambitious mission? To build a technical community of engineers committed to working towards that goal. The IEEE community of engineers and technologists worldwide uses its expertise and know-how to help develop solutions for many critical climate change issues.

The IEEE Climate Change initiative’s website (https://climate-change.ieee.org) features a collection of resources to support the community, including highlights from technical initiatives on Climate Change by IEEE and other relevant organizations (e.g., United Nations and ITU), a selection of featured articles on Climate Change from IEEE Xplore and IEEE Conferences, and a database of Experts for Climate and Sustainability Technology.

IEEE Future Directions

“Future Directions” is the title of a complex of IEEE initiatives aimed at engaging IEEE as a whole in emerging technologies that promise to shape our future.

The IEEE Future Directions Committee (FDC), in association with Societies, Councils, and Organization Units, anticipates and determines the direction of emerging technologies and spearheads their investigation and development by IEEE. The FDC emphasizes emerging technical areas and drives them to maturity within IEEE. Additionally, the FDC fosters cooperation among Societies, Councils, and industry to develop new products and services for emerging topics. ComSoc is significantly involved and committed to IEEE Future Directions.

Among the most notable activities coordinated by IEEE Future Directions, we may mention:

• A series of technical events, which this year include the IEEE Conference on Technologies for Sustainability (SusTech), the IEEE Conference on Telepresence, the IEEE World Forum on Public Safety Technology (WF-PST);
• The IEEE Future Tech Forum, which is a series of online roundtable discussions focused on leading technologies, crucial challenges, and societal impacts, featuring global experts and leaders in industry, academia, and government;
• A bimonthly Newsletter (since 2016);
• A Q&A Podcast series in which top experts in the field are interviewed;
• The 2024 IEEE Technology Megatrends report, presenting the technologies having the most opportunities and potential impact for the future, available online;

IEEE Future Directions coordinates the following active initiatives: IEEE Digital Privacy, IEEE 5G/6G Innovation Testbed, IEEE Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) Satellites & Systems (SatS), IEEE Metaverse, IEEE Public Safety Technology, IEEE Smart Lighting, IEEE SusTech, IEEE Telepresence, and IEEE Wireless Power Technologies (WPT).

Moreover, a number of other Initiatives started within IEEE Future Directions in the past. Some have continued as self-managed communities. Among them, we may mention IEEE Big Data (a successful product is IEEE DataPort), IEEE Blockchain, IEEE Cybersecurity, IEEE Digital Reality, IEEE Future Networks, IEEE Internet of Things, IEEE Quantum, IEEE Smart Cities, and IEEE Sustainable ICT.

Redesign of the IEEE Budget Process

In the last couple of years, significant effort has been spent by Staff and Volunteers in the Finance Committee to redesign the current process of the IEEE budget drafting and approval. The main goals of this redesign project have been to shorten the budget timeline, improve budget accuracy to limit the difference experienced every year between forecast and actual figures, improve workforce planning, simplify capital planning, fund strategic investments, and simplify funding requests beyond operational budgets.

As it appears at first glance, redesigning a budget planning and approval process as complex as in IEEE is an ambitious goal, as any change has implications and consequences affecting different units differently and not necessarily positive for all. Significant improvements have been made since the first proposals, owing to fruitful discussions among different groups to find the best trade-off between different requirements and points of view.