Stepping Out of Our “Cultural Ghettoes” [President’s Message]

With the year coming to a close, I couldn’t help but reflect on our experiences in 2020 and 2021. I began my term as president of the IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS) roughly 65 days before we were told to work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As I write this column 18 months later, I find myself, like many of you, still largely working remotely. During this period, we have learned a great deal about what we can and cannot accomplish online. We have learned that copresence is not always essential for facilitating meetings and work outputs. However, we also learned how much copresence facilitates really getting to know those with whom we work. Without the casual chatter that arises naturally when we bump into a colleague in a hallway or in those few minutes before a meeting really begins, our ability to form meaningful relationships is hampered.