A Cairde,
Céad Míle Fáilte romhaibh go léir to the 10th annual IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC) hosted by IEEE Region 6, IEEE Seattle Section and IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology, and Technical Co-Sponsored by IEEE-USA, IEEE Consumer Technology Society, IEEE Engineering Medicine and Biology Society, IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society, IEEE Power and Energy Society and IEEE Smart Village, with continued Patronage by IEEE Humanitarian Activities Committee and Joe Decuir.
IEEE GHTC brings together stakeholders from around the world sharing a common interest in addressing societal challenges at home and abroad. Supporting achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), GHTC provides a platform for practitioners and researchers, technologists and engineers, as well as policy makers and funding institutions to share knowledge and experiences, build capacity and facilitate relationship building.
This year’s program features plenary panels focused on Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of IEEE GHTC, “Technology-enabled climb up the demand-driven energy ladder: Interoperability, Growth, All-access” and “IEEE HAC COVID Response”. These panels are complemented by parallel tracks showcasing professional and volunteer activities in Energy, Health, Agriculture, Connectivity, Education, Disaster Mitigation, Water and Sanitation, and other Sustainable Development related topics.
As this year’s conference is entirely online, Unconference Networking Sessions are particularly important, to facilitate delegates to share personal experience and insights and dedicate time for knowledge sharing. Our objective as a Community is to be inclusive, allowing delegates to influence topics and issues to be discussed, and share expertise. I am grateful to Tom Coughlin, former IEEE USA President for seeding and moderating discussion on Diversity and Inclusion in Engineering in one of these Unconference Sessions.
Keynote speakers this year include Toshi Fukuda, IEEE President, Kathy Land, IEEE President-Elect and Melissa Sassi, Chief Penguin, IBM Hyper Protect Accelerator.
On Thursday, there are several special events open to all conference delegates:
- Half-day Workshops (Sustainable Project Design Considering COVID-19 Pandemic, Applied Machine Learning for Social Good and Fundamentals of Off-Grid Electrical Systems)
- Student Poster Competition
On behalf of the Conference Committee I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to this year’s conference – in particular the experts who volunteered their time to provide constructive, actionable feedback to improve the quality and impact of papers in the conference proceedings. It is my pleasure to acknowledge the great contribution made each year by Ed Perkins, Conference Vice-Chair, as well the dedication of the 2020 Technical Program Chair, Prof Pali Singh, and the 2020 Track Chairs.
Please take the opportunity during and after the conference to share your ideas of how we should continue to innovate as we start preparing for the 11th anniversary of GHTC in 2021.
Prof. Paul M Cunningham
Conference Chair, IEEE GHTC 2020
Dublin, Ireland