Symposium on Women in Services Computing (WISC)

Symposium on Women in Services Computing
Symposium Dates: October 19, 21, 2020

Technical Program

The inaugural IEEE Symposium on Women in Services Computing (WISC) features academic and industrial speakers, and panelists. These speakers will weave their technical agendas into their personal journeys on becoming experts in their chosen field. The Symposium evolves from the IEEE WISC Workshop held since 2017. Every WISC Workshop convened at the annual IEEE SERVICES event to afford women, and all those who interested and passionate to create a gender-neutral environment in services computing, the opportunity to meet together, exchange views, and network.

In 2020 we have all faced the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the worldwide Black Lives Matter movement. We are at a pivotal moment in world history where diversity, inclusion, and the negative effects of racism and prejudice have taken center stage. Now, more than ever, is the time for a symposium that focuses on diversity and inclusion. The format of the WISC symposium will be virtual, providing an opportunity for participation from all geographies.

Finally, the Symposium will create a non-technical lightning talk session for women professionals and award the best lightning talk(s). IEEE TCSVC sponsors the Best Lightning Talk Award of IEEE SERVICES 2020 with a cash prize ($300 USD in total). The awardee(s) will be announced at the close of the Symposium. Please see the section on lighting talk submissions for further details.

Below is a list of the sessions that will be held at the inaugural IEEE WISC Symposium.

  • Opening Welcome
  • Reflections on the History of IEEE SERVICES and the WISC Community
  • Presentation and Acceptance Speech of the 2020 IEEE TCSVC WISC Awardee(s)
  • Distinguished Speeches
    Gargi Dasgupta, Lab Director of IBM Research, India
    Wei Lu, Founder and CEO of K2Data
  • Lightning talks by Participants (see below)
  • Panel Discussion
  • Closing Remarks

Registration for IEEE SERVICES 2020 Attendees

The WISC Symposium is open for free to all IEEE SERVICES 2020 attendees. If you are interested in joining the WISC Symposium, please complete the registration form at the URL listed below.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=DQSIkWdsW0yxEjajBLZtrQAAAAAAAAAAAAO__f1L-WhUQTg2WDBOWEgyWkNIRFRDSUNKR1FKNU1EUC4u

Lightning Talk Submissions

We would like to invite four attendees to speak for about 10 minutes each on one of the following topics. Please indicate a choice on the IEEE WISC Symposium registration form. The lightning talk speakers will be selected by the committee and announced in the end of September 2020. Video recordings of the talks will be made available from the website of IEEE SERVICES 2020 and promoted through IEEE TCSVC WISC community.

  • How can the services computing community encourage women to study in this area? Why is this important for the academic and industrial aspect of services computing to advance?
  • If you could look into the future, what are the 2 to 3 new emerging areas or new industries in services computing that you believe will be most important/impactful?
  • What life advice would you offer to your younger self, if you could go back in time?
  • What type of guidance are you offering to your own children, mentees, colleagues, so they can take advantage of your experiences?
  • What are some books, movies, experiences in your own life that helped you on the road to becoming a services computing expert?
  • Who is the person who most influenced your journey to becoming a scientist/engineer/researcher? Tell the story.
  • Give a short presentation on a technical/scientific ‘trail blazing’ person you know, or has influenced your life and career?
  • If you were asked to start your own company, how would you go about doing it?
  • Talk about what you would consider to be the five most important keys to success in a technical career?
  • Why does it matter to the world that women are part of technology?
  • Talk about the transition from graduate school to industry. How did you manage this transition?
  • How has Covid-19 changed your personal and/or professional life and how do you maintain both your mental and physical health?

Organization

Steering Committee
Carl K. Chang, Iowa State University
Rong N. Chang, IBM Research, TJ Watson Research Center (Chair)
Lorraine M. Herger, IBM Research, TJ Watson Research Center
Xiaofei Xu, Harbin Institute of Technology

General Chair
Lorraine M. Herger, IBM Research, TJ Watson Research Center

Program Chairs
Mari Abe, IBM Cloud and Cognitive Software, Tokyo
Wendy Chong, IBM Research, TJ Watson Research Center
Kaoutar El Maghaouri, IBM Research, TJ Watson Research Center
Vaijayanthi B Desai, IBM Global Delivery Services, Bangalore

Advisory Committee
Gopal Pingali, IBM GTS Labs, Bangalore
Yanchun Sun, Peking University
Jia Zhang, Southern Methodist University