We’re now at the end of the year and the end of my term as ISA President. It is amazing how the time flies by. I still remember writing my first President blog post The Future of ISA is Now in January this year. I really enjoyed the experience of being ISA’s President. I learned so many new things. There were some challenges during the journey, but we learned good lessons during the process that will make us more successful in future initiatives.
I travelled and met many members from different Sections and Districts: Students, young professionals, senior professionals, leaders, and volunteers. I got inspired by so many members and volunteers and I think that I did my best to inspire other automation professionals, too. I worked hard to show that it is possible to grow ISA doing different and new things. The secret of our success this year was the great collaboration and the sense of trust between members, volunteers, and staff working together in the same direction. The direction is provided by our vision, mission, and our strategy. I can see a brilliant future for ISA in the coming years where we will continue working together to “create a better world through automation.”
Overall, I’m delighted that—with one month still to go in the year—the majority of our 2022 strategic goals have already been met or exceeded. ISA members can always see the most current status on our key results on connect.isa.org—just look for the section marked “2022 key results” on the left sidebar. In particular, I want to share that we grew our membership numbers by 8% as of November 30—well above the goal of 2% we had set for the year. I want to congratulate our ISA staff team and executive director, Claire Fallon, for all their hard work!
I also want to congratulate each of you for your volunteer leadership. Every ISA member has a part to play in our Society’s success, and we are so grateful for your collaboration with one another, with the Executive Board, and with staff. We appreciate all the contributions you have made to the fantastic year we have had in 2022.
Early in 2023, we will publish the ISA annual report that will give greater detail on all of our accomplishments. In the meantime, I wanted to highlight some of the most exciting and impressive milestones that I saw this year.
Additionally, we are so honored to have had Dr. Lauren Goodwin, Chief Information Officer of Johnson Space Center and WSTF, NASA as our keynote speaker. Dr. Goodwin was one of the first leaders to introduce automated expertise identification via data analytics, which throttled her global influence in the tech industry. As Chief Information Officer of NASA’s Johnson Space Center and White Sands Test Facility, she is accountable for enabling the technology, digital transformation, and cybersecurity of NASA’s mission for human space flight.
Did you know that ISA was even nominated for Eventeer Awards in three categories for our ALC event? We are so proud to have hosted a high-quality event that was exciting and educational for our members—whether they joined us in-person or virtually. Cast your vote for ISA in the following categories by 27 January 2023:
Next year I will continue to serve ISA as your Past-President and will be working together with Marty Bince, 2023 ISA President, Prabhu Soundarrajan (President-elect Secretary), Rajesh Rathi (Treasurer), and Claire Fallon (Executive Director).
I also want to welcome the new 2023 Executive Board, who will be announced in January. Welcome Marty and Prabhu! I am thrilled to see what is next for ISA under your leadership.
Christmas Message
I love to connect with our members and listen to their opinions about automation, what ISA is doing now, and what ISA should be doing to answer your needs. Please connect with me on ISA Connect, LinkedIn, or send an email to president@isa.org.