【致辞原文】

Hello everyone. 

I am Tom Coughlin and I have the pleasure to serve as the 2024 President and CEO of IEEE. 

I would like to thank the organizers of the World Internet of Things Convention for the opportunity to speak to you today. 

For those who are unfamiliar with IEEE, we are the world's largest technical professional society. Our more than 460,000 members work across academia, industry, and government with the goal of advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. 

Through our highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities, IEEE members from over 190 countries build communities of diverse engineering and technological professionals and inspire innovative technological solutions.

IEEE has a tremendous technical reach, with communities spanning areas from semiconductors and circuits and computers and communications to power and energy and well beyond – to explore and apply technology to solve the world’s most challenging problems. 

At IEEE, we are driven by what’s next—enabling innovation and the creation of new technologies.  Our focus is on fostering collaboration, building and convening communities, and supporting the creation and dissemination of technical knowledge.

We are witnessing rapid developments in technology such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology, and more.  These innovations have tremendous potential for transforming industries, improving human health, and solving complex problems.  

But these technologies bring new challenges and uncertainties, such as ethical dilemmas and privacy concerns and create the need for foundational elements that ensure technology serves the broader societal goals of efficiency, safety, and environmental responsibility. 

Standards enable technologies to work seamlessly together, ensuring that products and services are reliable, secure, safe, scalable, and efficient. Standards are the unseen force behind today’s technological innovation and the growing circular economy.  

In the context of sustainability, standards are vitally important for several reasons. 

Emerging technologies produce new opportunities for improved energy efficiency, and support the transition to a more sustainable future, as energy availability and consumption are some of the most pressing challenges of our time.  Standards are playing a pivotal role in redefining data center resource use, providing the framework needed to make them more resource efficient and to optimize energy use, while providing required services.

Standards also support the transition to the circular economy where products and materials are reused, refurbished, and recycled.  Standards for e-waste management, recycling and material recovery ensure that valuable resources are reclaimed, reducing the strain on our environment.

Standards play an important part in establishing a framework for equity and inclusion by developing design principles and guidelines for emerging technologies that, for instance, establish safeguards for age-appropriate access and online safety.

Standards create a level playing field for innovation.  They enable different stakeholders, using a true multi stakeholder collaborative environment, to develop solutions that work together to drive progress towards the sustainable development goals.

As we look to the future, the role of standards will only grow in importance. Emerging technologies hold great potential for sustainable development.  However, their responsible deployment hinges on the establishment of comprehensive standards that address ethical, environmental, and social considerations.

Standards are the invisible threads that weave together the fabric of our digital society, ensuring that technical advancements are aligned with a sustainable, inclusive, principled, and prosperous future.

A thriving exchange of global, leading-edge viewpoints on technology and innovation is imperative as we continue to pursue IEEE’s mission of advancing technology for humanity.

I am honored to be part of IEEE’s global, technological enterprise. One that is committed to scientific and technical discovery and innovation that improves our standards of living and helps us care for each other and for our planet. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to speak to you.  I applaud the organizer’s efforts to build a platform for international cooperation in science, technology, and innovation.  I wish you a successful convention.  

Thank you.

【致辞译文】

大家好，

我很荣幸担任2024年美国电气电子工程师学会的主席兼首席执行官，我是汤姆•考夫林。

感谢世界物联网大会的主办方，给予我今天向大家发表演讲的机会。

对于那些不熟悉电气电子工程师学会的人来说，我们是全球最大的技术专业学会。我们有超过46万名会员，来自学术界、工业界和政府部门，致力于推动技术发展，造福人类。

电气电子工程师学会的会员来自190多个国家，通过高引用的出版物、会议、技术标准和专业教育活动，构建了多元化的工程和技术专业人士社区，并激发了创新技术解决方案的提出。电气电子工程师学会在技术领域具有巨大的影响力，其社区覆盖了从半导体、电路、计算机、通信到电力、能源等广泛领域，致力于探索并应用技术解决全球最具挑战性的问题。

在电气电子工程师学会，我们的驱动力是推动未来新技术的创新和创造。我们着重于促进社群合作、构建和集合，以及支持技术知识的创造和传播。

我们正目睹技术领域的飞速发展，如人工智能、量子计算、生物技术等。这些创新具有巨大潜力，可以改变产业格局、改善人类健康，并解决复杂难题。

然而，这些技术带来了新的挑战和不确定性，如道德困境和隐私问题。同时，也创造了对基础要素的需求，以确保技术服务于更广泛的社会目标，包括效率、安全和环境责任。

标准使技术能够无缝协作，确保产品和服务的可靠性、安全性、可扩展性和高效性。标准是当今技术创新和不断发展的循环经济背后的无形力量。

在可持续发展方面，标准之所以至关重要，主要有以下几个原因。

新兴技术为改善能源效率提供了新的机遇，并支持向更可持续的未来过渡。因为能源的可用性和消耗是我们这个时代面临的最紧迫的挑战之一，所以标准在重新定义数据中心资源使用方面发挥着至关重要的作用。这些标准提供了所需的框架，使其更具资源效率并优化能源利用，同时提供必要的服务。

该标准支持循环经济发展，促进产品和材料的重复使用、翻新和回收。通过实施电子废物管理、回收和材料回收标准，可以确保宝贵资源得到充分回收利用，同时减轻环境压力。

在建立公平和包容的框架方面，标准发挥着重要作用。它为新兴技术制定设计原则和指南，包括确保适龄访问和在线安全。

标准为创新创造了一个公平竞争的环境，使得不同利益相关者能够在真正的多利益相关者合作环境中共同开发解决方案，从而推动实现可持续发展目标的进展。

展望未来，标准的作用将变得更加重要。新兴技术具有巨大的可持续发展潜力，但其负责任的部署取决于建立全面考虑伦理、环境和社会因素的标准。

标准是将数字社会的各个方面紧密联系在一起的无形纽带，以确保技术进步与可持续性、包容性、原则性和繁荣性的未来保持一致。

在推进电气电子工程师学会践行人类技术进步使命的过程中，必须促进全球领先技术和创新观点的繁荣交流。我非常荣幸成为电气电子工程师学会这个全球性技术企业的一员。该企业致力于科学和技术的发现与创新，提高我们的生活水平，帮助我们相互关爱并关注我们的星球。

再次感谢主办方给予我在此发言的机会。我非常赞赏主办方在构建国际科技创新合作平台方面所付出的努力。祝愿本次大会取得圆满成功。

谢谢。