ComSoc's strategic planning for the "smart revolution" [The President's Page]

The environment surrounding the IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc) has been changing continuously, with the major thrust coming from technology and market changes. The days of telephone-based communications began to fade with the divesture of AT&T and privatization of telco businesses in the late 1980s. The decline of the telecom industry in the 1990s led to the decline in ComSoc's membership. The proliferation of the Internet and the evolution of mobile communications transformed the telecom industry significantly, pushing several traditional telecom manufacturers out of business, which curtailed ComSoc's advertising revenue and conference attendance. Yet another big blow came in the late 2000s from the convergence of communications and computers, whose symbolic outcome is the smart phone. This "Smart Revolution" invited new players such as Apple and Google to the communications arena along with brand-new business models centered on open applications stores. As an aftermath of the Smart Revolution, the communications market began to convert into a software and content driven market. Unfortunately, ComSoc has not yet been able to operationalize strategies to confront the challenges and opportunities of the Smart Revolution.