IEEE Humanitarian Activities
Mission
"IEEE Humanitarian Activities" are defined as activities by IEEE volunteers and staff
members geared toward improving the quality of life for underserved populations
through…
* Supporting the development, testing and dissemination of appropriate technology for
the benefit of the target populations;
* Development of technology policy and business models that support affordable,
scalable, sustainable and long term application of such appropriate technology
solutions;
* Increasing awareness of professionals in engineering, technology and computing of
the potential of their work to improve the standard of living of under-privileged
populations, and encouraging them to increase efforts in this direction;
* Cooperating with all responsible organizations to develop and implement long term
pertinent plans
* Participating in fundraising efforts for humanitarian activities.
Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology (SIGHT)
Objective
 To promote the mission of IEEE regarding Humanitarian Activities, particularly,
 To bring together members / IEEE OU’s working in or wishing to work in
humanitarian fields and to encourage and promote them in activities which use
humanitarian technologies by giving them an opportunity for participation.
 To engage with NGOs, Civil Society Organizations, UN Organizations, Corporates
and other similar bodies to synergize efforts in delivering useful and sustainable
technologies in their operations.
 To work with other bodies in the Engineering Fraternity who have similar goals and
help each other in delivering to the ideals and participate in joint activities like E4C.
Benefits of forming a SIGHT
SIGHTs offer a new way of collaboration in IEEE to initiate and/or contribute to the
humanitarian projects with a vision to sustain and scale them. The online nature and
presence of the SIGHTs will enable better visibility thus fostering new members across
the world. Unlike current IEEE OUs, SIGHTs support members from multiple
geographic locations which can enable scaling of the projects. Also, since a SIGHT
follows the annual volunteer leadership cycle like the current IEEE OUs, the projects of
the SIGHT will be sustained.
Requisites to form an SIGHT
1) 6 or more IEEE Members in good standing and passionate about humanitarian
activities centered on one or more above interest areas. They can be geographically
anywhere.
2) The prospective SIGHT will need to have an affiliation with some IEEE OU (Section,
Society Chapter, Affinity Group, Student Branch). The chairman of that OU needs to
approve the formation.
3) The prospective SIGHT will need to submit an online application requesting
formation of an SIGHT.
4) Each one of the members will need to have a working "@ieee.org" email alias.
A prospective SIGHT should have
1. A clearly stated purpose and focus (beneficial group served)
2. Clearly identified leadership (start every SIGHT by identifying capable chair(s))
3. Clearly identified technical, volunteer and local leaders (chair gathers leaders in the area)
4. A pool of dedicated volunteers (chair identifies SIGHT volunteers)
5. A well thought-out plan for maintaining and nurturing the SIGHT
Procedure to form a SIGHT
An online form needs to be submitted to form a SIGHT. The proposers shall furnish the
following information:
* Proposed name of the SIGHT
* List of proposers and affiliations
* Purpose of SIGHT (what explicit value is provided to the beneficiary group)
* Proposed Chair
* Beneficiary group served
Organization of a SIGHT
SIGHT Chair
The Chair shall be the point of contact to the IEEE for each SIGHT. Chairs shall be
selected by the group proposing new SIGHT or, once the SIGHT is established, by the
members of that community as established by their own governance structure.
Each Chair shall insure that the SIGHT has
* Identified
opinion, technical, volunteer and local leaders
* A pool of dedicated volunteers
* A well thought-out plan for maintaining and nurturing the community
SIGHT membership
Any interested IEEE member can join a SIGHT online without any fees, and he/she will
have access to the reports, meetings and discussions of a SIGHT. Since SIGHTs are
inclusive groups, all members will be part of the mailing lists and are encouraged to
contribute towards the discussions and ideas.
Activity reports
The SIGHT needs to submit at least 2 activity reports per year in order to remain active.
The activity report forms can be submitted online. In case of less than 2 activity reports
in a year, the SIGHT is considered to be inactive. To revive a SIGHT, an online form
similar to the SIGHT formation application needs to be submitted.
2012 Region 10 Humanitarian Technology Activities Committee
Chair: Deepak Mathur
Members: Amarnath Raja (India), Joel Marciano (Philippines), Supavadee Aramvith
(Bangkok), Takako Hashimoto (Japan), Arjun R Pillai (India)
Objectives
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Formation of SIG-HT in Sections/Student Branches
Awareness of Humanitarian Technology Activities
Collaboration with HQ HT
Identification of HA project and implementation
Projects / Tasks for 2012
1. SIG-HT in 20% of R10 sections
2. HT Tracks in major conferences of the Region including TENCONs
3. Awareness of HTA by creating an exclusive webpage/website on R10 website
4. Planning of a major Humanitarian Conference in 2013
5. HTA Projects – 8 projects
Project 1: objective: to start and establish sustainable Special Interest Group on
Humanitarian Technology in Region 10.
The formation of SIGHT will give a start to HTA in the Section and the Region. This SIG
will work in their geographical area to implement technology for the benefit of humanity
– a new thrust area of IEEE.
Project 2: objective : Being a new concept at Section level, awareness on
Humanitarian Technology Activities are required to be propagated all across the section
to create interest of members to form sustainable SIGHT. It is being proposed to keep
HT track in the major conferences of Region 10 including TENCONS.
HT track will give visibility and importance to the HT activities. Presentation/exhibition
stall in 1 or 2 conferences will give an opportunity to interact on the subject.
Project 3: objective: An exclusive webpage/website to share information on HT
activities.
The website will provide updated information on Humanitarian Technology Activities in
Region 10. The website will also help in registering SIGHT and keeping the member
details till HQ implements a formal structure of HT.
Project 4: objective: A conference on Humanitarian Technology in 2013.
The conference will invite researchers, academician and industries to discuss the
developments in the fields of Humanitarian Technology and its implementation for the
betterment of humanity. This conference is already under planning and there is a
proposal to hold this conference in Sendai, Japan.
Project 5: objective: To do real life projects or workshops for the visibility of IEEE and
for the Humanitarian cause in the sections of Region 10. There is a plan to do minimum
8 HTA projects in 2012.
These projects/workshops will discuss and implement technology in the geographical
areas of the sections of Region 10 by their respective SIGHT.
Join us at
www.ieeesight.net
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ieeesight/
Deepak Mathur
deepakmathur@ieee.org