Dear Members of the ACM, IEEE Computer Society, and computing community

Welcome to this cooperative, ACM/IEEE Computer Society Discussion Forum.  As we noted in our co-published letter, “From the Presidents of the IEEE Computer Society and ACM” that appeared in the August, 2011 issues of CACM and Computer magazine, we have created this Forum to solicit comment, discussion, ideas, and suggestions regarding matters that related to cooperative activities that would benefit the members of both of our societies as well as the computing community in general.

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Alain Chesnais, ACM President - president@acm.org

Sorel Reisman, IEEE Computer Society President - sreisman@computer.org

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Value for Industry

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Value for Industry
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8/30/11 6:51 AM
There are many comments already on the relationship to research among the threads above; but not much on clarifying the value to industry. The events of ACM and IEEE CS increase the level of innovation and problem solving of those who participate. This is a concept that we need to convey to industry and professionals alike.
How? ... the technical terms are "social capital" and "boundary spanning" ....

Boundary spanning happens when you get out of your immediate group/corporate environment and start interacting with others ... new insights, ideas, ... and from this, innovation are the result. --- in-person interactions are best ... it is why folks often indicate that the "hall track" of conferences, or "over lunch" are the most productive part of an event (not just conferences, the same holds for standards meetings, local seminars, even management meetings). "Thinking out of the Cube"

And... then there is the "It's not what you know, it is who you know" reality --- aka social capital. These same interactions in meetings, over lunch, ideally repeated over a few years, yields a degree of trust & understanding between the individuals. Then when a problem arises, and you don't know the answer, you may well know the right person to contact.

In effect, engagement and participation by professionals in professional societies expands the corporate resource pool well beyond the individuals who are involved ... result -- increased innovation, understanding of the market and customer needs, and of course -- when the problems surface, "who-you-going-ta-call?"

IEEE and ACM may have one foot in the 20th century, but they also pave the pathway to the 22nd.

Jim Isaak
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RE: Value for Industry
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4/25/13 4:39 PM as a reply to Anonymous.
There are many comments already on the relationship to research among the threads above&#x3b; but not much on clarifying the value to industry.  The events of ACM and IEEE CS increase the level of[b] innovation[/b] and[b] problem solving[/b] of those who participate.  This is a concept that we need to convey to industry and professionals alike.  
How? ... the technical terms are "social capital" and "boundary spanning" .... 

Boundary spanning happens when you get out of your immediate group/corporate environment and start interacting with others ... new insights, ideas, ... and from this,[b] innovation [/b]are the result. --- in-person interactions are best ... it is why folks often indicate that  the "hall track" of conferences, or "over lunch" are the most productive part of an event (not just conferences, the same holds for standards meetings, local seminars, even management meetings). [i]"Thinking out of the Cube"[/i]

And... then there is the [i]"It's not what you know, it is who you know"[/i] reality --- aka social capital. These same interactions in meetings, over lunch, ideally repeated over a few years, yields a degree of trust & understanding between the individuals.  Then [b]when a problem arises[/b], and you don't know the answer, you may well know the right person to contact.

In effect, engagement and participation by professionals in professional societies expands the corporate resource pool well beyond the individuals who are involved ... result -- increased innovation, understanding of the market and customer needs, and of course -- when the problems surface, "who-you-going-ta-call?" 

IEEE and ACM may have one foot in the 20th century, but they also pave the pathway to the 22nd.

Jim Isaak
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