Message From The Chair

by E. G. "Al" Kiener

In late 1993, the IEEE Board of Directors published a strategic plan that set a clear and challenging new course for the IEEE. That document, Meeting Member Needs in the 21st Century: IEEE Strategies for the Future, articulated in detail the visionary goals that every entity within the Institute must strive to achieve in order to remain effective in a rapidly changing world. In response, each of the six major IEEE boards outlined operational plans for their own organizations that reflect the overall goals and mission of the Institute.

The Standards Board operational plan for 1995-96 is an expression of commitment to the larger goals of the Institute. Like IEEE's strategic plan, the Standards Board plan focuses attention on improving global interactions, enhancing career opportunities, aligning IEEE initiatives with the public interest, improving organizational effectiveness, and taking advantage of electronic media for the development and dissemination of technical information. I believe our operational plan will be a useful aid in establishing our Board's future direction. It is far-reaching, but it is also practical and, most important, achievable. Of course, it will require some dedicated effort from our active volunteers and staff to be successful. However, I believe that together we can, with input from the existing base of roughly 36 000 participants, make it happen.

We are aware that among these 36 000 participants are people who are not IEEE members. This is especially true in the working groups that develop our standards, where it is critical to bring to the table the expertise of nonmembers as well as members so that our standards reach the broadest possible consensus. This emphasis on consensus among technical experts is the key strategy that leads all our planning. Through this approach, IEEE standards have achieved worldwide recognition for representing the best professional thinking in electrotechnology.

There is little doubt that we will continue to see rapid and perhaps even dizzying change as we move toward the 21st century. The IEEE strategic plan states, "Tomorrow's information technologies will need to support the rapid transfer of detailed technical data among colleagues, separated by great distances as well as by differences in language and time zone, who must collaborate on complex projects. To accomplish these feats, it will be necessary to develop and refine efficient communication systems, uniform and compatible tools, and globally accepted standards." The Standards Board has long recognized that, by keeping these needs in mind as we establish our plans for the future, we can show that standards will be integral to ensuring that IEEE will meet its ambitious goals for the 21st century.

These next few years promise to be exciting times for all of us, and I'm looking forward to them. I hope you are, too.