Important September elections for IEEE: Message from the president

The elections this fall may be among the most important in years for the future vitality of the Institute and all its Societies. As the economy soared at the turn of the millennium, in great part due to the technology that our members created, the rising costs of running IEEE were not highly visible. The softening of the economy since 2000 has made the contrast of revenue to expense in all of IEEE uncomfortably apparent. As the producers of intellectual property, all of IEEE's Societies are bearing the burden. You will see in your renewal notice this fall increased dues and subscription rates. Even with these rate increases most Societies, including SSCS, are seeing decades of hard-earned reserves, dwindle to one-third of their pre-millennium value. To control spiraling costs, Societies are interested to see how the IEEE Board of Directors will cut costs, and bring infrastructure expenses under control.