SYSC Chapters Exchange Program: Advancing Global Collaboration in Industry and Entrepreneurship
The IEEE Systems Council (SYSC) has recently launched the Chapters Exchange Program, a pilot strategic initiative designed to connect chapters, share best practices for industry engagement, and foster innovation and entrepreneurship, enabling meaningful knowledge exchange across regions. With 32 professional chapters worldwide, the program provides a structured platform for dialogue, learning, and collaboration, helping transform local efforts into a cohesive engine for innovation.
Driving the Initiative
The program is spearheaded by Gil Gonçalves, SYSC Vice Chair of the Industry Committee, with support from Bruno Iafelice, SYSC Chair of the Industry Committee, and Loretta Arellano, SYSC Chapters Coordinator. Together, they ensure effective communication and engagement across chapters, orchestrating a framework that aligns SYSC chapters with industry trends, entrepreneurial activity, and best practices in event development.
Structured Monthly Exchange and Goals
The core of the program is a monthly one-hour digital seminar series, held on the last Wednesday of each month. Each session follows a structured format: a brief welcome, two slots for chapters to share experiences, an interactive discussion, and a wrap-up highlighting announcements and upcoming initiatives. This structure provides chapters with a consistent platform to present successful initiatives, lessons learned, or challenges in industry engagement and entrepreneurship.
The initiative is grounded in a research-based framework from the University of Porto, which structures discussions and ensures insights are actionable. It focuses on four outcomes:
● Foster Collaboration – Encourage recurring engagement and cross-chapter interaction.
● Knowledge Transfer – Share strategies, case studies, and lessons learned in industry engagement and entrepreneurship.
● Community Enrichment – Equip chapters with actionable ideas to strengthen local ecosystems.
● Maximize Impact – Apply a research-based framework from the University of Porto to structure discussions and ensure insights are actionable.
This combination of structured interaction and research-backed methodology ensures that meetings are both productive and meaningful, allowing chapters to learn from one another and adopt best practices efficiently.
Insights from the first session
The first session, held on March 25, 2026, featured presentations that set the tone for the program.
Gil Gonçalves to ice break sharing the experience of the Industry Forum at EFTA 2025 in Porto (Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation), organized by the SYSC member Industrial Electronics Society. Gil shared the forum’s innovative model, which brought together industry representatives sharing industry challenges and startups discussing possible solutions. The forum created an open platform for cross-collaboration between established and emerging companies, increased industry participation in the conference, and demonstrated a successful model for industry engagement.
The second presentation was by Joanne Wong, leader of IEEE Entrepreneurship’s Hard Tech Venture Summit, a program designed to foster technology transfer and connect founders with capital and specialized resources. Developed in collaboration with the Systems Council, the summit provides a distinct alternative to traditional conferences by emphasizing active engagement between investors and startups. Joanne shared lessons learned and challenges from the inaugural event in June 2025 in San Francisco and highlighted how the summit has since expanded to multiple locations in the US and Canada, with plans to grow into LATAM, Europe, and Asia in 2027.
Future Directions
Beyond virtual engagement, the leaders of this initiative are exploring an annual in-person “Member and Industry Engagement Workshop”, with a first edition potentially taking place during the Chapter Summit in Croatia at the Systems Council conference ISSE 2026. This event would strengthen relationships, consolidate learning, and showcase high-impact initiatives across the global chapter network.
Conclusion
The SYSC Chapters Exchange Program is more than a seminar series. It is a strategic platform for global collaboration, innovation, and entrepreneurship. By connecting chapters, sharing experiences, and providing a research-backed structure for discussions, the initiative empowers the IEEE Systems Council community to transform local efforts into scalable, industry-relevant innovation.
The program is poised to strengthen the global SYSC community and foster impactful industry engagement. The collaboration between the membership activities and the industry activities within the Systems Council has officially begun, and engagement from chapters worldwide is strongly encouraged as the program continues to grow.
For chapters interested in contributing presentations or announcements, participation slots are available for each session. Slots can be booked here: https://calendly.com/ieeesysc/30min
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Image: Gil Gonçalves presents the Industry Forum at EFTA 2025 in Porto (Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation)
