IEEE - Establishing a Technical/Sister Society Agreement

National Society Agreements are signed at the IEEE Board of Directors level by the IEEE President. They are administered by IEEE Corporate Activities.

The Technical/Sister Society Agreements are signed at the IEEE Society level, usually by the IEEE Society President. They are administered by IEEE Technical Activities.

Sister Society Agreements are designed to promote additional cooperation in a specific discipline through joint activities. Additionally, in order to promote joint membership, these agreements may also provide discounts on IEEE Society membership fees and Society publications.

The majority of the Technical/Sister Society Agreements are supplements to existing National Society Agreements.

Some National Society Agreements (NSA) provide a 10% discount on IEEE basic dues and regional assessments. Technical/Sister Society Agreements (SSA) may also offer a 10% discount on IEEE Society member fees. The 10% discount on IEEE basic dues and regional assessments can only be established through an NSA. If an NSA does not exist and discounts on both IEEE basic membership and Society member fees are desired, then it is strongly encouraged that an NSA be initiated, so there can be discounts on dues at both the IEEE and the IEEE Society level.

According to IEEE Policy 5.7, IEEE Societies/Technical Councils may implement Sister Society Agreements (SSA) with National Societies.

Before establishing a new agreement, IEEE Societies must first verify if an IEEE National Society Agreement (NSA) already exists with a particular National Society, or if there is one in development. The NSA status can be confirmed by contacting national-societies@ieee.org.

If an IEEE National Society Agreement exists, then the SSA becomes a supplemental agreement. Supplements with signatures should be forwarded to periodical@ieee.org. Copies will be provided to IEEE Corporate Activities. Further information on establishing an SSA, including the recommended SSA Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) (DOC, 43 KB) text, is available.

If an NSA does not already exist and discounts on IEEE dues and regional assessments are desired in addition to the IEEE Society dues discount, then an NSA must be initiated through IEEE Corporate Activities through an e-mail to national-societies@ieee.org.

Initiating and signing an NSA is not a difficult process. The wording was designed and approved by the IEEE Board of Directors so as not to interfere with any of the IEEE Societies/Technical Councils' initiatives and allows them to have the flexibility to develop their own terms with the National Society. IEEE Corporate Activities will help draft the NSA and ensure that the appropriate discounts are made available to IEEE members.

In addition to maintaining the list on the IEEE web site, a periodic report of existing agreements is sent to the IEEE Board of Directors, IEEE Regional, and Technical Activities Boards by IEEE Corporate Activities.