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IEEE China Engineering Forum: A New Opportunity for NPSS NPSS AdCom Retreat – 1 March 2013

Bill Moses

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Event Background

New types of global forums are currently being developed in with the following goals:–Help IEEE gain market share where there are large

growth opportunities–Pooling resources to establish relationships in key

emerging markets–Bring the “best of the best” of IEEE intellectual

property to new venues–Create alternate means to achieve our mission

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IEEE China Engineering Forum

Mission of the China Engineering Forum:– To build the preeminent engineering event in China– To aggregate and convene the China engineering community

pulling from across all areas of IEEE:• Societies and Councils• Technical and Regional Communities• Educational Activities• Standards Activities• Publishing Activities

– To expose China to new technologies and build competencies with educational content

– To make connections, build relationships and create channels to bring more business to China

– Raise the international profile of the IEEE brand.

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Location, Dates, Audience

We plan to anchor the event in Beijing – Once the event is well established it will rotate to various cities

around China, aligned with strategic technical initiatives

No date is currently set but the aim is for Fall 2014Target audience:• Authors• Engineers• Exhibitors• Chinese Officials and Government• Sister Societies and Associations• STM Publishing Outlets (Scientific, Technical, Medical)• Universities and Students• Media

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Benefits

For Societies and IEEE OUs– Easy point of entry to Chinese market– Experience of holding an event in China without having to

support a full conference– Opportunities to develop tracks around your best papers and

workshops– Successful tracks could eventually grow into a standalone conference

– Opportunities to repurpose and resell existing content– Opportunities to grow Society membership– Benefit from the connections of others

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Benefits

For IEEE– Leverage existing relationships and IEEE volume for discounts– Streamline and maximize IEEE resources (contracting, planning,

etc.)– Provide clean financial management for IEEE by bundling

contracts and invoices– Builds brand reputation and proactively counteracts the poor

image currently seen as rejecting conferences in China

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Who should be a part of this?

Do you need to recruit engineers in China?Do you want to sell products in China?Are you trying to do business in China?Is there content from your current events that is highly relevant in China?Do you currently have a strategy to expand your market share in China?

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Who is interested?

Societies – Computer Society– Communications Society– Consumer Electronics Society– Electron Devices Society– Robotics and Automation Society

IEEE Member and Geographic Activities– Local sections– Regional conference organizers– IEEE Student Activities

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Who is interested?

IEEE Educational Activities– Technical English Program– Recording and distribution of eLearning modules

IEEE Standards– Broadening industry connections for standards development and

adoption– Access to Chinese government for discussions on global

standards

IEEE Spectrum– Provides an issue in simplified Chinese– Access to potential content for future issues

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Event ModelThe event is centrally owned and managed by IEEE, and each year partners would be invited to apply to participate for a two year termEach event will have a highly relevant and current technical themeA steering committee will be formed to decide what that theme is and each partner has a seat at this tablePartners produce tracks within the perimeters of the theme– Curate existing content to create the track – best papers, journal

articles, interviews with top experts– The idea for societies is to highlight the breakthrough work in

your area – to showcase your Society in this new market

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Business Model

The event will start with a break even modelPartners will be expected to support the cost of producing their track– Travel for speakers and overhead, possibly for

translating/reproducing content– Partners will be asked to bring in patronage money that exceeds the

cost of producing their individual tracks

Similar to the traditional technical conference model, attendees would pay a registration fee– Travel expenses for attendees would not be covered by IEEE

IEEE would also look for financial partnership from stakeholders in China (Government, University, Industry)

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Next Steps

The Steering Committee is being formedIf interested then NPSS is asked to:– Express willingness to commit to a certain

degree of patronage– Provide a statement of NPSS objectives in the

China market– Submit a staff or volunteer name for the

Steering Committee

Project kick-off targeted for Spring 2013Early budget development and project approvals in Spring/Summer 2013Event commitment and announcement in Fall 2013