Assessing the impact of shift to electronic communication and information dissemination by a professional organization: An analysis of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Large, decentralized scientific and engineering organizations based in North America and Europe have identified electronic media as a strategic technology for communication and information dissemination to their members and other stakeholders. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the largest technical society in the world, recognized its increasing dependence on electronic media and commissioned a study to assess the social, organizational, and economic impacts of this shift on its members and other stakeholders. Results of the study are reported herein. The Delphi research method was chosen to gather expert opinion from 30 IEEE members and other stakeholders regarding their predictions of the range and depth of impacts, types of benefits, and undesirable effects. The purpose of this research is to provide a series of recommendations as to how scientific and technical organizations may take full advantage of electronic media technology, while taking actions to avoid the negative consequences of this technological change.