The IEEE ISTAS 2023 Programme includes a number of plenary panels:

IEEE Societies: Addressing Climate Change Challenges

16:00 – 17:15 13 September 2023

Moderator: Luis Kun, President, IEEE SSIT
Description | The IEEE is currently working in multiple areas to deal with climate change. Some of these efforts include: Electrification of the transportation infrastructure which is one of the most promising solutions to reducing carbon emissions; hydrogen as a viable fuel source. Many are calling for hydrogen to be part of future energy sources; the use of distributed energy resources (DERs) and microgrids is integral to provide a flexible and resilient energy system that can help meet the growing demand for clean energy.

Panellists include:

  • Saifur Rahman, President, IEEE
  • Rakesh Kumar, Past President, IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society
  • Nita Patel, President, IEEE Computer Society
  • Metin Akay, Past President, IEEE EMBS
  • Manuel Delgado-Restituto, President, IEEE Circuits and Systems Society and
  • Victor Grimblatt (Circuits and Systems Society, White Paper on Climate change)

Public Safety Technologies and Climate Change

15:45 – 17:00 14 September 2023

Moderator: Luis Kun, President, IEEE SSIT
Description | The main objectives of this panel include to discuss: how Society can better address the aspects of Emergency Management (Awareness, Preparation, Prevention, Response and Recovery) and secondly how we connect the IEEE Public Safety Technology Initiative with the Climate Change Sustainability Initiative. Over 40 nations are facing food insecurity and forced migration because of either floods or drought and fire. In public health, the threats characteristics are of global threats with local impact and local threats with global impact. These affect health, security, education, economy, everything. Globalization, connectivity and speed are fundamentally crucial to the response. Requirements include fast: detection, fast and effective communication, fast and effective integration and fast and effective action.

Panellists include:

  • Kamal Al-Haddad, Director, IEEE Division 6
  • Johann Marquez-Barja, IEEE Education Society
  • Mariusz Malinowski, President, IEEE Industrial Electronics Society
  • Alan Chong, President, IEEE Professional Communication Society
  • Steven (Zhaojun) Li, President, IEEE Reliability Society
  • Ravikiran Annaswamy, President, IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society
  • Wei-Jen Lee, Chair, IEEE Program Director Climate Technologies Sustainability
  • Sampathkumar Veeraraghavan, President, 2023 IEEE HKN

Ethics, Labor and Democracy: Designing Impactful Tech for an Actively Inclusive Society

15:30 – 17:00 15 September 2023
Moderator: Floriane Fidegnon, Consultant, BMNT Ltd.
Description |As technology rapidly evolves and new capabilities become widely available, the tech industry must be consciously and consistently aware of the people it stands to leave behind via traditionally inequitable practices and systems. Among other places, these inequities are found in hiring practices, public services (healthcare, education, policing, etc.), and product development life cycles. Ethical design, development and deployment of technology must be rooted in the values of equality, diversity, equity, inclusion and justice so that all members of society can contribute to innovations that will fundamentally change the way in which we live our lives. This IEEE TechEthics panel will address why the adoption of these values must become a professional skill and explore practical steps the technology industry can take to apply this in their practices.
Panellists include:

  • Juan Amador, Executive Director, Society for Advancing Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS)
  • Jacqueline Corbett, Full Professor, Université Laval
  • Mathana, Tech Ethicist