8 Computer

P R E S I D E N T ’ S M E S S A G E

We can’t solve problems by usingthe same kind of thinking we usedwhen we created them.

—Albert Einstein

I n my first message at the begin-ning of this year, I described someof the formidable challenges andexciting opportunities facing theComputer Society. In this, my last

message as 2006 president, I report onthe tremendous progress we made thisyear toward realizing our vision of theworld’s computer society.

A PIVOTAL YEARDuring 2006, we commemorated a

diamond jubilee for the computerage—the 60th anniversary of theENIAC computer and the 60th anni-versary of the IEEE Computer Society.This important milestone provided uswith both excitement and inspirationfor several special activities and awards.Past presidents Jim Aylor and RonHoelzeman; Violet Doan, Director ofAdministration; and their 60th Anni-versary Committee spearheaded aseries of festive and noteworthy events.

During the Board of Governorsmeeting in March, Meyya Meyyappandelivered a fascinating presentation on nanotechnology. For our June recep-tion in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Yale Pattgave a rousing talk titled “The Futureof Computer * (Are We in Serious

Trouble?),” available on our Web site(www.computer.org). Bob Colwell,author of The Pentium Chronicles, cul-minated our jubilee speaker series witha witty and thoughtful presentationthat is his trademark.

The Society’s flagship magazine,Computer, published a monthly seriesof articles on the history of computing.With funding from Northrop Grum-man, Board of Governors memberAlan Clements organized a computerhistory Web design contest for stu-dents. As testament to Alan’s dedica-tion, this event was so successful thatthe Society will be conducting a simi-lar competition in 2007.

We extended invitations to othersocieties to join in our celebrationactivities and received a reciprocalinvitation from the British ComputerSociety, which turns 50 in 2007. Wewish all the best to the BCS as theycommemorate this seminal milestone.

I also had the pleasure of represent-ing the Society at the Forum onInformation Technology (FIT 2006) inFukuoka, Japan, and Women inEngineering Japan in Tokyo. FIT iscosponsored by our sister society, theInformation Processing Society ofJapan (IPSJ); the Institute of Elec-tronics, Information, and Communi-cation; and the Human Communica-tion Group. Women in Engineeringwas established just last year as an

affinity group of the IEEE JapanCouncil. I am deeply grateful to theIPSJ senior leaders; the FIT organizers;Iwao Hyakutake, our Asia Pacificmanager; former Board memberAkihiko Yamada; and Violet Doan fortheir outstanding efforts in coordinat-ing these visits.

Our 60th anniversary milestone wasalso a time for self-assessment. Ouroperating revenues have been eroding,and our membership has been declin-ing. Nonetheless, in a recent IEEEmember study, more than 40 percentof the respondents chose the Com-puter Society as their IEEE society offirst choice. We will continue to reachout, reevaluate ourselves, and improvethe value of membership. We willstrive to think and act globally.

REACHING OUTMy key presidential initiative this

year was to provide outreach tounderserved and underrepresentedsectors—women, ethnic minorities, ITpractitioners, emerging countries—and instituting significant efforts thatput the Society on sounder financialfooting. Here, I will mention just afew of our outreach activities this year.

During the year, Computer launcheda new series of articles on “BroadeningParticipation in Computing,” editedby Juan Gilbert of Auburn University.The Anita Borg Institute asked us toprovide nonfinancial support for theGrace Hopper Conference, and we aredelighted to do so. New board mem-ber Van Eden has provided fundingfrom Microsoft in support of our stu-dent competitions for 2007.

Past president Jerry Engel has beenworking with the People to People pro-gram in support of outreach to Africa.In June, the Society joined the IEEEGOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade)program. One of our most excitingefforts is just getting under way. Underthe leadership of Board secretary AnnGates of the University of Texas at ElPaso and John Fernandez of TexasA&M University, the “LeaD” programwill develop professional leadershipskills among diverse students througha variety of student-led activities. Our

Reaching Out toShape Our FutureDeborah M. Cooper, IEEE Computer Society 2006 President

The Society’s 2006 president

reports on this year’s

accomplishments.

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participation in the Diversity Leader-ship Panel at the Grace Hopper Con-ference and in the Society of WomenEngineers flagship conference wereoutstanding successes and generatedinterest from many potential newmembers.

Reaching out to our internationalpartners was also the goal of theInternational Federation of Informa-tion Processing (IFIP) Large SocietyMeeting led by Jerry Engel in July. ThisVancouver summit brought togethervolunteers and staff from the ACM,the Canadian Information ProcessingSociety, the Korea Information ScienceSociety, the British Computer Society,and the Information ProcessingSociety of Japan. Unfortunately, theAustralian Computer Society wasunable to attend. This auspiciousgroup discussed topics of mutual inter-est and explored areas for increasedcollaboration.

Our 60th anniversary events also sup-ported outreach to international orga-nizations. We hosted our first Region 9Chapters Summit in conjunction withthe IFIP World Congress in Santiago,Chile. The vibrancy, dedication, andingenuity of our Region 9 chapter lead-ers are an inspiration to all. Specialthanks to Mario Barbacci, our LatinAmerican Activities Committee chair;Region 9 section coordinator AntonioDoria and Region 9 chapters leaderFernando Bouche; Chris Schober, vicepresident for chapters activities; andstaff members Evelyn Mendoza andJohn Daniel for organizing this infor-mative and stimulating summit.

I also thank ombudsman MichelIsrael, who generously hosted a May reception for the Washington-based European Union science andtechnology representatives. It was a wonderful way to inform country rep-resentatives about Computer Societyactivities.

I received tremendous outreach sup-port from many volunteers and staff. Iespecially thank secretary Ann Gates,vice president Stephanie White, vicepresident Susan (Kathy) Land, volun-teer leader Bonnie Melhart, JuanGilbert, Board member Antonio

Doria, and associate publisher DickPrice for their tireless commitment tothis initiative throughout 2006. Ouroutreach initiative will carry forwardnext year. We see this becoming anentrenched and vital part of what theComputer Society is about.

TRANSFORMING THE SOCIETYI appointed several ad hoc commit-

tees this year with a specific focus.Under the leadership of former vicepresident Yervant Zorian, the StrategicDevelopment Committee proposed newand creative ways for retaining andattracting members, working with cor-porate partners, and expanding into

underserved markets worldwide. Seniorvolunteers and executive staff focusedon creating a new operating model andtransformation plan to achieve ourmajor strategic plan goals, improve ourfinancial model, and improve our rela-tionship with the IEEE.

In March, I appointed a Transforma-tion Task Force under the leadership offormer Society president Ben Wah toevaluate our transformation plan. Thefindings and recommendations of the“Wah Commission” led to the creationof the Transformation Planning Com-mittee, under the leadership of first vicepresident Rangachar Kasturi and vicepresident Murali Varanasi, and thereinstatement of the Facilities Commit-tee, under the direction of Ron Hoelze-man. In June, the Board approvedfunding for a complete organizationalreassessment, and we contracted withthe Hay Group, who will be deliveringtheir report and findings in March2007.

At the request of past president JerryEngel, IEEE president Mike Lightnerappointed an ad hoc committee toinvestigate the possibility of theComputer Society becoming a major

operating unit. Thanks to the dedica-tion of division directors SteveDiamond and Oscar Garcia, JerryEngel, and 2007 president MikeWilliams, much progress was made onthis effort, which will continue in 2007.

DELEGATIONS TO KOREA,CHINA, SINGAPORE, AND INDIA

During this year, Peter Turner, busi-ness and products development direc-tor, organized a delegation to Asia toexplore opportunities for establishing a presence in China and India for sales of multilevel Certified SoftwareDevelopment Professional (CSDP)exams and training. The Societyengaged Thomson Prometric to evalu-ate the attractiveness of the Indian andChinese markets, develop an under-standing of the regulatory frameworks,provide a competitive analysis, anduncover market opportunities forComputer Society programs. ThomsonPrometric provided excellent recom-mendations on partners and importantagencies in each country. The ThomsonPrometric China team under the direc-tion of John Chen and the India teamunder the direction of Soumitra Roy areto be commended. Special thanks toPierre Bourque, who joined us in China,and Murali Varanasi, vice president foreducational activities, who joined us in India.

Thanks to Peter’s efforts and thoseof executive director David Hennage,continuing education coordinatorStacy Saul, and the entire ProfessionalPractices Committee led by Jim Moore,our certification activities are advanc-ing. Samsung SDS has made CSDP arequired career hurdle for 3,000Samsung SDS developers, is develop-ing a Computer Society/Samsung SDScourse and a cadre of internal trainers,and will be offering CSDP training tothe rest of the companies in the Sam-sung family and Samsung SDS corpo-rate customers.

TEAM 2006My accomplishments this year are

attributable to working with an out-standing team. Both 2007 presidentMike Williams and 2008 president

December 2006 9

My accomplishments thisyear are attributable

to working with an outstanding team.

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10 Computer

cant contributions to the Board as wellas to our outreach and transformationplanning. As vice president for educa-tional activities, Murali Varanasi cre-ated many new opportunities forserving our community, including ajoint project with the ACM to distrib-ute a “Computing Careers Brochure”to 61,000 high schools. Jon Rokne,vice president, publications; divisiondirector Oscar Garcia; division direc-tor-elect Tom Williams; and DavidHennage, executive director, weregreat support. David has announcedhis retirement at the end of this year,and he will be greatly missed. We wishhim all the best.

I would be remiss in failing toacknowledge the contributions ofmembers of the Computer Society staff,including Anne Marie Kelly, associateexecutive director; Angela Burgess,publisher; Violet Doan, director ofadministration; Dick Price, associatepublisher; and John Miller, director offinance and accounting; as well as exec-utive assistant Anita Wills and JudiProw, managing editor of Computer.One of the greatest strengths of theSociety is our effective volunteer-staff

Rangachar Kasturi will bring a newperspective.

Treasurer Steve Seidman vastly im-proved the comprehension of ourfinancial documents and leaves behinda great legacy. Secretary Ann Gates wasa font of fresh ideas, a true godsend.We will miss working with past presi-dent Jerry Engel, who is a great friendand a mentor to all. As vice president ofchapters activities, Chris Schober cre-ated more student chapters this yearthan in the history of the Society. SorelReisman, vice president of ElectronicProducts and Services, improved andstreamlined our Electronic Productsand Services board.

We also thank Steve Diamond, 2005-2006 IEEE Division VIII Director, whoworked tirelessly to improve our rela-tions with the IEEE and put the Societyon a firmer financial footing. DorisCarver completes her term as Com-puter’s editor in chief this year and issucceeded by former Society presidentCarl Chang. Doris is a tough act to fol-low, but I have confidence that Carl willrise to the occasion.

Kathy Land, second vice presidentfor standards activities, made signifi-

partnership, and these individuals makeit happen.

F inally, I regret that space limita-tions prevent me from addingthanks to all the others who make

the Society what we are. Whether yourinvolvement is with one of the standingcommittees, chapters, conferences, edu-cational activities, electronic productsand services, publications, standards,or as a staff member, your contributionsare invaluable. I extend my warmestthank you for giving me this opportu-nity to serve as 2006 Computer Societypresident and for electing me as IEEEDivision V Director. I know that I cancount on you to supply the support andhelp to 2007 president Mike Williamsthat you have given to me.

Best wishes for the coming holidayseason and the coming year. I look forward to working with you in thefuture ■

Deborah M. Cooper is president andfounder of an independent consultingfirm that specializes in computer secu-rity and information assurance. Contacther at d.cooper@computer.org.

P R E S I D E N T ’ S M E S S A G E

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