The ISPA board has been working on a framework to establish Technical Communities within the Society. These Communities will take the place of the Scientific Division structure, with the main difference that Communities will be member-driven and flexible to respond to changing member needs and interests. We hope that all of you will take advantage of the opportunities available to create, lead, and/or participate in ISPA Communities.  Here are a few of the details.

Forming a Technical Community:  A leader, vice-leader, and a total of 10 supporting ISPA members are needed to propose forming a community. More details on the exact procedure will be forthcoming.

 

Expectations of a Community: Each community should be active in meeting the needs of its members and ISPA. Each Community will hold an annual meeting (in person or virtually), elect leaders, and maintain a membership of at least 10 ISPA members. Potential community activities are many, but one we’d like all to participate in is organizing at least one event (session, tour, workshop, etc.) at an ISPA conference a minimum of every two years.

 

Membership: Once a community is formed, any ISPA member will be able to join through their account on the ISPA website. Each member may affiliate with as many communities as they desire.

 

Comments or Suggestions?  As we finalize the Technical Community framework, we welcome questions, comments, and suggestions from the members. Please send any feedback by September 1 to president@ispag.org

 

Founding ISPA President Raj Khosla offered a live interview (45 mins) and answered to call-in questions on NPR “On-Point with Tom Ashbrook”. The program focused on “Farming Goes High Tech” – How to feed 9 Billion by 2050, Big Data, and technology in Farming  http://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/08/12/farming-tech-drones-crops

 

The 11th ECPA will be held in Endinburgh, Scotland, UK in July 2017. 

 

 

What is the value of using drones on farms?
How do you think UAVs will impact ag? See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOFVxSHHlugless

 

“Data Management Solutions: Turning Information Into Knowledge” will feature more than 20 presenters and panelists and over 200 data platform stakeholders for a full day of learning and networking. August 31 at the I Hotel in Champaign, IL

 

ARS2015 will be held in Nanjing On Nov 4-5, 2015. It is supported by the National Engineering Technology Research Center For Information Technology In Agriculture (NERCITA) and China Agricultural University. www.arssummit.com/en/