Policies and Procedures

(2021)

1) Data Storage Charter

The Data Storage Technical Committee (DSTC) promotes advances in state-of-the-art communications, signal processing and coding technologies to enhance data storage systems, in order to achieve high storage densities, fast access, and low error rates. Research from physical data storage to distributed and networked storage and applications fall within the DSTC scope

2) Data Storage Objectives

  •  Sponsoring technical sessions at major conferences such as ICC and Globecom, organizing workshops and tutorials
  •  Promote knowledge dissemination through timely special issues of IEEE journals such as IEEE JSAC etc.
  •  Foster the development of new emerging areas within the purview of the technical committee.

3) Data Storage Organization

The DSTC reports to the Technical Committees Board (TCB). Operation and coordination of technical committee members is handled by an executive team comprising of an elected Chair, Vice-Chair, secretary, and treasurer. The elected term is for 2 years. New officers shall be elected by the voting members of the DSTC. Candidate nominations are
sought by the Chair for the officer positions. Candidate biographies are announced on the DSTC web site. Ballots are submitted electronically and winners are decided through a majority. The
results are conveyed to Director-TCB and the VP-TEA.

TC members shall:

  • be ComSoc members in good standing
  • Attend at least 2 TC meetings in every 2 years
  • Serve as a TPC member or reviewer for related track in ICC or GLOBECOM at least once every 2 years or as an TC officer.
  • cast informed votes on TC business
  • be encouraged to assist in the conduct of TC business

Any sub-committees and special interest groups can be created within this TC, for e.g., nomination and selection of awards etc. TC committee officers and terms are specified in the ComSoc Bylaws.

4) Activities and Responsibilities

The following are the roles and responsibilities of the elected officers:

TC Chair
Duties of the Chair include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Represents the Technical Committee on the Technical Committees Board
  • Provides guidance and direction to Technical Committee members in the conduct of their responsibilities
  • Appoints Chairs of Subcommittees and Special Interest Groups as necessary
  • Coordinates with ComSoc Staff in the conduct of his/her responsibilities
  • May assume leadership for specific projects, as delegated by the Technical Committee

TC Vice Chair

  • Replaces the TC Chair in case of his/her absence
  • Assists the TC Chair and Secretary in his/her activities

TC Secretary

  • Coordinates the TC meetings, arranging the meeting time schedule, reserving the meeting room and food, and informing the members via the e-mail list.
  • Prepares reports for the TC and Technical Committees Board meetings
  • Provides an annual written report, which shall be distributed to the VP-TEA-C, the Director-Technical Committees, and TC members prior to each meeting held at ICC.
  • Records the minutes of the TC meetings
  • Maintains contact with the TC members and Chair, keep track of active members
  • Sends announcements to the TC e-mail list
  • Maintains and updates the TC website

TC Treasurer

  • Works with the DSTC Chair to raise motions related to budget, planning for any finances etc .
  • Interfaces DSTC with the VP-TEAC on financial matters.

The roles and responsibilities of the officers shall be consistent with the ComSoc Bylaws. We hold
meetings every quarter via skype to monitor progress and activities of this committee.

5) Transactions of Business

The DSTC meets at ICC and Globecom in person or through remote dial-in and discusses progress in the area. All business transactions are as per the Bylaws in Section 9.3.

6) Website and Email

There is an active IEEE DSTC web site, https://dstc.committees.comsoc.org/activities/ where the minutes and agenda are recorded during the business meetings. There is also a DSTC listserv hosted via IEEE ComSoc where relevant activities can be posted. Discussions are held within the exec. committee if actions are to be taken based on email requests to co-sponsor events etc.

7) Planning, Announcement and Conduct of Meetings

We plan and announce the meetings in advance and conduct the meetings as required twice-a-year. Also, we garner statistics on paper submissions etc. and provide a presentation at the event.
The agenda and minutes are posted on the website after every meeting.
Also, skype meetings are held once in 4 months among the executive members of the DSTC for planning any activities etc.

8) Budget, expense and policies

Any officer can request a budget to accomplish a technical task. This has to be seconded by another officer. The Chair requests a discussion among the executive committee members and if the budget passes, it is conveyed to the VP-TEA for the next steps as per ComSoc rules.

9) Supporting Activities

DSTC will remain active within ComSoc and help foster all the technical activities relevant to the committee. Upon the requests from the TCB Director and ComSoc, DSTC will align and help with the activities to support ComSoc. Also, DSTC is happy to co-sponsor any activity if deemed fit.

10) Nominations and Procedure for Awards

There are typically 2 awards that DSTC supports

  1.  Student best paper award
  2.  Best paper award

Every year, we solicit nomination of papers for the above awards. The Chair, through a discussion with the executive committee members will formulate a chair and vice chair for this activity. The awards committee chairs shall then form a jury comprising of outstanding individuals in the field, well-represented geographically, as well as area-wise to cover the gamut of the areas. The Chair of the awards committee solicits nominations for awards. This is widely circulated within on ComSoc, ITSoc and relevant lists and advertised on the web page. Depending on the number of nominations and details, the jury decides on the winners and announces them to the Chair who shall then inform ComSoc about it for next steps. Sometimes, there are no awards declared if the quantity of nominations is below a threshold, for example less than 10 papers. The number of nominations is subjective since it really depends on each year. The decision on the threshold is left to the awards committee. The policies and procedures for DSTC awards and recognitions shall be consistent with the TCB P&Ps.

The previous 2013 version of Policies and Procedures is available.