An important step in the restructuring of the IEEE regions was taken during the November meeting of the IEEE Board of Directors, where the Board approved the proposed reorganization of the regions, as outlined in InstituteSeptember article “IEEE is working on a reconfiguration of its geographic regions.”

The IEEE is working to restructure its 10 geographic regions to ensure more equitable representation among its members around the world.

Some of the factors that were considered in evaluating the reorganization were the number of participants, geographic location, time zones, and providing the best overall experience for participants.

During the IEEE Council meeting, Vice President of Membership and Geographic Activities David Koehler presented the progress of the MGA and the proposed reorganization of the region.

Plan approval is the first of many steps. This allows you to merge the six US regions into five by combining the current IEEE Region 1 (Northeast US) and Region 2 (US East) and splitting the current IEEE Region 10 (Asia Pacific) into two regions.

These regional changes will take effect in January 2028.

In addition, the Board formally approved the concept of zones and zone representatives. A zone is a substructure within a region with a significant number of members. Four zones were approved in November, two in Region 8 (Africa, Europe, Middle East) and two in Region 10, which came into force in January.

In these larger regions, zone representatives can provide assistance in the region and provide additional voice to members in the region, as well as represent them on the MGA board.

MGA continues to work on the planned reorganization of the region to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to complete the transition.

This article appeared in the March 2023 print issue.