Going for Sustainable Conferences

The research landscape is evolving very dynamically. This column reflects on it from a conference viewpoint and focuses on the importance of creating a more sustainable culture for the conference portfolio that the IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS) offers. Among the different considerations, the role that virtual conferences can play is highlighted.

Introduction

After having completed my term as SPS vice president (VP) for conferences, I appreciate the amazing chances to provide perspectives and guidance on how to operate and improve the Society’s conferences and workshops (hereinafter conferences). Any scientific Society needs hubs to foster collaboration and knowledge dissemination; that is why the organization of conferences is crucial for any Society. Next, the current situation of SPS conferences, together with the challenges in the last three years, are introduced to understand how SPS conferences position themselves to face the future. As the evolving research landscape in the future is highly dynamic, this section also identifies some of the drivers of change and what the community needs in response to these changes. Conference sustainability is identified as one of these responses and essential elements.