Directeur des affaires professorales, de la recherche et des partenariats
Professeur | Département de génie électrique
École de technologie supérieure (Université du Québec)
Sustainability in a connected world: the IEEE Green ICT initiative
The Green ICT initiative was launched in January 2015 with a mission to develop a holistic approach to sustainability by incorporating green metrics in various IEEE technical domains. Sustainability, i.e. reconciling environmental benefits with socio-economic benefits, is directly linked to IEEE’s overall mission of advancing technology for humanity. As such, the broad set of technologies addressed throughout IEEE can be key drivers of sustainability if they are not only properly designed, but also properly applied and adopted throughout various industry sectors. The initiative is currently fostering the development of nine new IEEE Green ICT standards.
Bio
Charles Despins’ career has spanned more than 30 years in both the academic and industry segments of the information and communications technologies (ICT) sector. Following academic work as a faculty member of the Institut National de Recherche Scientifique (Université du Québec), he held various posts in the private sector, namely at Bell Nordiq Group as vice-president and chief technology officer, as a consultant for wireless network deployments in India and China and for 13 years, as President and CEO of Prompt inc., an ICT research and development consortium. In 2016, he returned to academia and is currently Vice-president – research, partnerships and faculty affairs as well as Professor of Electrical Engineering at École de Technologie Supérieure (Université du Québec) in Montreal, Canada. His research interests focus on wireless communications. Dr. Despins is a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada and a recipient (2006) of the Outstanding Engineer award from IEEE Canada. He is a former recipient of the “Best Paper of the Year” award in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology. He is currently a frequent advocate on issues regarding the opportunities ICT offer to achieve sustainability in the 21st century.