[Immediate Past, Present, Future]
Organized by R10 Information Management Committee, R10 Newsletter Committee and IEEE Singapore Office
Written by Ewell Tan, Project Manager, IEEE Asia-Pacific Ltd.
IEEE Region 10 (a.k.a. Asia-Pacific region) represents the largest region in IEEE with more than 135,000 members. Recognizing the importance of the members and volunteers, who are the core foundation of IEEE, a webinar on IEEE R10 Directors’ Dialogue [Immediate Past, Present, Future] was organized in collaboration with R10 Information Management Committee, R10 Newsletter Committee and IEEE Singapore office on 8th August 2020, to provide a platform for members and non-members to have an interactive dialogue session with the IEEE and Region 10 leadership.
This webinar was presided by IEEE President & CEO, Prof. Toshio Fukuda and IEEE Executive Director, Mr. Stephen Welby, as the Guest of Honor. Dr. Kurnianingsih, R10 Information Management Committee Chair, gave an opening introduction at the start of the webinar and highlighted the objective of this webinar to bring IEEE members closer, encourage teamwork and inspire thinking to overcome obstacles and challenges amidst COVID-19. Prof. Toshio Fukuda and Mr. Stephen Welby also inspired the participants with their address. Three R10 Directors [Immediate Past, Present and Future] each gave a presentation and shared their insightful perspectives.
R10 Director, Prof. Akinori Nishihara spoke on “How IEEE Contributes to Society at Large and Communities during and after COVID-19?”. Prof. Akinori shared his insightful view on IEEE value proposition, community structure and the relationship between IEEE entities. R10 Director-Elect, Mr. Deepak Mathur addressed the future of IEEE, especially on membership recruitment, retention, and member engagement with his topic on “Building a better future post COVID-19: IEEE Region 10’s plan for members and volunteers.” R10 Immediate Past Director and VP of IEEE MGA, Prof. Kukjin Chun, delivered a talk on “What kind of leadership do we need for R10 in the new era post COVID-19?”. During this presentation, Prof. Kukjin highlighted that resilient leaders are essential to the organizations and he shared the key leadership skills, such as empathy, embracing all and empowerment needed for future leaders.
An interactive Q&A session began after the three Directors’ presentation and was moderated by, Prof. Takako Hashimoto, the R10 Secretary. Participants were actively involved in the Q&A session and had their questions answered by the IEEE R10 leaders. The questions and answers is made available in the R10 Website. The webinar was successfully concluded by R10 Newsletter Committee Chair, Dr. Mohammad Faizal Ahmad Fauzi. Dr. Faizal expressed his appreciation on behalf of the organizing committee and encouraged participants to join the upcoming R10 events. Overall, this webinar provided an exciting opportunity for members and non-members to interact and familiarize themselves with IEEE Region 10, with a key message to inspire transformation and motivate everyone to emerge stronger after the global pandemic.