By Manfred (Fred) Schindler, Chair, One IEEE Ad Hoc Committee Innovating in Strategic Investment and Public Imperative Activities
Recognizing the imperative for us to increase and accelerate our innovations in IEEE, and to encourage a culture of innovation, we held the first IEEE Innovation Summit in Alexandria, Scotland, 5-6 October. I’m leading an ad hoc committee, charged by IEEE President Kathleen Kramer to advance how we innovate within IEEE, to fulfill our mission as a public charity dedicated to the advancement of technology.
Goals and Vision for the Innovation Initiative
The goals of the summit were to inspire innovation, reinforce an innovation methodology, and lay the groundwork for a broader rollout of innovation across IEEE. You will hear more about innovation at IEEE in the coming months. View the IEEE Scotland Innovation Summit Video Recap
Planning for the summit began with a solicitation for innovative ideas, prompting consideration of how AI can support IEEE’s strategic goals. We received over 80 ideas and invited 31 of the submitters to join us at the summit. Twenty-four of them were able to join us in Scotland. They were part of the 100 volunteers and members of staff at the summit, focusing on how we can better innovate.
Workshopping Ideas and the Final Pitch
One of the main activities of the Summit was to workshop those ideas. We formed 24 teams, with one team for each idea. The teams included the submitter and others who were unfamiliar with the idea, coming from different parts of the organization. This diversity of perspectives was invaluable in the development of the ideas. The teams created meaningful problem statements and then considered prototype solutions. I was impressed by the energy I saw in each of the teams I observed.
The summit culminated with pitches from each of the teams, in part to help us understand how to make better pitches. The attendees voted for their favorite pitches in the spirit of friendly competition.
The first Innovation Summit may have culminated with a pitch competition, but the summit marks the beginning, not the end of our innovation initiative. The summit itself was an innovation for IEEE, and this inaugural event was our prototype. We learned from it and plan to host more summits every year.
The key takeaways were that we want problems in search of solutions, not solutions in search of problems. We want to consider prototypes and minimum viable products, rather than spending years building full products only to realize we’ve missed the mark. We want to fail quickly, learn from the experience, and move forward.
Sustaining Momentum: Future Tools and Summits
We will apply this same philosophy to our support of innovation. We’re creating tools, support structures, and funding mechanisms. If they don’t work, we’ll pivot. Let’s take advantage of our great resources – volunteers, staff, and financial. Let’s learn from these innovations and improve our approach to innovation. Think about the great things you can do in your OU, and the even greater things you can do working with others.
Over the coming months, you can look for information on tools to support innovations, our Innovation Portal. It is a convenient way to manage ideas and projects. You will also learn more about our Innovation Hub and organization to support innovation from ideation to launch. And finally, look for information on future Innovation Summits.
