Advancing technology for the benefit of humanity isn’t just the tagline for IEEE’s mission as a public charity. It’s something that the organization’s more than 500,000 members strive to do all the time. IEEE’s recently released 2025 Social Impact Report showcases a variety of programs volunteers worked on to increase public awareness of technology’s impact on society, many of which The Institute covered.
Here is a selection of the programs from the report, with links to our related articles:
- Shaping trustworthy digital experiences for children online. An IEEE collaboration with Indonesian policymakers led to a new regulation to protect children, a first of its kind in the region. The advanced frameworks used for the design of Internet platforms and systems are based on the IEEE 2089-2021 and 2089.1-2024 standards. The IEEE 2089-2021 Standard for an Age-Appropriate Digital Services Framework Based on the 5Rights Principles for Children provides practical steps to qualify online products and services. The follow-up, the IEEE 2089.1-2024 Standard for Online Age Verification, provides a framework for designing, specifying, evaluating, and deploying age-verification systems. You can learn more about the two standards in “IEEE Makes Strides to Improve Online Safety for Kids.”
- Catalyzing humanitarian outreach. Last year IEEE launched its Mobile Outreach Vehicle (MOVE) program in India. The vehicle brings educational resources to communities and can provide communication and technology support to relief workers and survivors during emergencies. In 2024, for example, MOVE helped survivors of Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the Southeastern United States. When the vehicles are not deployed, IEEE MOVE remains engaged in outreach efforts, participating in 25 STEM educational events such as one in San Diego in 2023.
- Preserving Tech History. The IEEE Global Museum, developed by the IEEE History Center, presents traveling exhibits to educate the public about the history of technology and its impact on society. In “IEEE’s Global Museum Brings Engineering History to You,” you can learn about current exhibits “Unseen Signals: E. Howard Armstrong’s Radio Revolution” and “Microchips That Shook the World.”
- EPICS in IEEE. This program provides nonprofit organizations with technology solutions while broadening undergraduate students’ hands-on experiences. Last year US $290,000 was awarded to a record-breaking number of service projects around the world. Among the 48 projects was one in which a student team in Macedonia created IoT-driven sensing and display devices to help measure and promote awareness of pollution and air-quality issues in the capital city of Skopje.
- IEEE TryEngineering. This initiative inspires preuniversity students to pursue technology and engineering careers. It awarded US $70,379 in grants to 58 programs around the world. One is its TryEngineering Summer Institute, a nine-day summer sleepaway camp for students ages 13 to 17. More than 310 students participated last year, learning about aerospace and artificial intelligence.
- IEEE–Eta Kappa Nu. IEEE-HKN has more than 260 collegiate chapters worldwide and more than 200,000 members. The honor society encourages and recognizes excellence in education, professional practice, and meritorious work within IEEE’s designated fields of interest. IEEE-HKN members last year contributed 110,442 volunteer hours to universities and communities, and they held 827 service and outreach events and 137 STEM outreach activities. Last year IEEE and HKN celebrated the 15th anniversary of their merger.
- IEEE Connecting the Unconnected Challenge. This annual global competition solicits innovative solutions from startups, grassroots organizations, universities, and others working to bridge the digital divide. The Institute wrote about last year’s winners. They included a solar-powered community broadband network in Tanzania, a low-cost method for accessing the Internet that uses FM radio and a short message service, and a strategy for utilizing India’s rural broadband infrastructure to deliver medical services to people living in isolated, tribal, and other underserved regions.
- Supporting Sustainable Climate Efforts. IEEE helps foster the exchange of technical knowledge and information to develop technologies for a sustainable climate. “IEEE Plays a Pivotal Role in Climate Mitigation Talks” reported how the organization enhanced its standing as a trusted, neutral authority on the role of technology in climate change mitigation and adaptation. Leaders, including 2023 IEEE President Saifur Rahman, showcased tech solutions at COP30 and the International Symposium on Achieving a Sustainable Climate. Also, “IEEE Young Professionals Talked Sustainability Tech at Climate Week NYC” reported on the group’s activities during the 2024 Climate Week NY, the largest annual climate event, featuring more than 600 activities throughout New York City.
Engineering: A force for good
“The IEEE global community of more than 500,000 members and volunteers demonstrates what is possible when expertise is mobilized for the public good,” Sophia Muirhead, IEEE executive director and chief operating officer, said in a news release about the Social Impact Report. “Technology has the power to expand opportunity, strengthen communities and improve lives, and IEEE’s mission is to ensure that this power is used responsibly, ethically, and in service of humanity. The 2025 report shows how IEEE members and volunteers are advancing solutions that make a real difference in people’s lives around the world.”
Engagement research shows that members increasingly cited “giving back to my profession and the world community” as a reason for joining IEEE and renewing their membership, IEEE President Mary Ellen Randall said in her September column about the report.
“Humanitarian programs are not only meaningful,” she wrote. “They also are magnetic. They attract younger engineers, keep them engaged, and help them build a professional identity rooted in purpose and impact.
“IEEE has the opportunity to become the world’s leading convening force for developing interdisciplinary technology solutions to solve humanity’s most important challenges. Our future relevance will be defined not only by the technologies we advance but also by the problems we choose to help solve.”