Conference organizers can request the Technical co-Sponsorship (TCS) of the IEEE Tunisia section in order to submit the conference proceedings to IEEE Xplore for publication. The TCS indicates direct and substantial involvement of the IEEE Tunisia Section in the technical program of the conference.

Benefits of Co-Sponsoring a Conference with IEEE: <link>

To request the TCS of the IEEE Tunisia section, please complete the following:

  1.  eLearning Courses located in the IEEE Center for Leadership Excellence (CLE): “IEEE Conference Sponsorship Overview“, “IEEE Conference Application and Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Process“, “Financial responsibilities” and other courses <link>. The applicant and the conference volunteers should receive certificate of achievement of the courses
  2. fill in the conference application form: www.ieee.org/conferences_events/conferences/organizers/conf_app.html

The MOU request will be approved or declined according to the conference details submitted using the form above. Please note that the IEEE Tunisia section is a geographic subunit of IEEE. For Technical co-sponsorship, the involvement of an IEEE technical unit (chapter, society) is required.

References

A comprehensive sources of current data on setting up, running and closing out a conference can be found on the IEEE Website <link>

Useful documents include:

  • Starting a New Conference <link>
  • Setting up an Annual Conference <link>
  • Quick Links to Required forms <link>
  • IEEE Conference Application <link>
  • Conference Sponsorship <link>
  • IEEE Policies <link>
  • Checklist and timeline <link>
  • IEEE Publications Operations Manual <link>

Requirements:

To approve your TCS request, it is important and necessary to keep the following conditions:

  1. Only non-profit organizations can obtain the IEEE technical or financial sponsorship. The conference must fall within the area of expertise and interest.
  2. Become familiar with:
    • IEEE Policy Manual (Section 10.1.17 – http://bit.ly/2raKqoa)
    • IEEE Technical Activities Operations Manual (Section 6 – http://bit.ly/2r2b4ST)
    • IEEE MGA Operations Manual (Section 10 – http://bit.ly/2qB6oDP)
    • IEEE recommendations and policy (http://bit.ly/2r23FmH)
    • Conference Organizer Roles and Responsibilities <link>
    • Financial Sponsor: Receives a portion of the surplus or are liable for a portion of the deficit resulting from a conference, plus have direct and substantial involvement in the development of the technical program. Organizations that contribute funds but do not receive surplus or have responsibility for deficit should not be listed as financial sponsors. They are classified as patrons or supporters.
    • Technical Sponsor: Has a direct and substantial involvement in the development of the technical program, but no financial stake in the conference surplus or deficit.
    • IEEE Tunisia section can’t participate as Patron/Supporter (“Sponsor” in French). The section can’t contributes to the conference financially.
  3. The conference application form must be submitted before at least 10 months with all required details in order to avoid the reject of the application. It should also includes the information of all the conference chairs and the program committee chairs and the publication chair and the financial chair.
  4. Plagiarism check of all submitted papers (first and final versions) using crosscheck.ieee.org
  5. At the minimum, one IEEE Tunisian chapter <list> or one IEEE Society <link> in the conference topic is involved in the conference program as technical co-sponsor. It is important to clarify in the conference application form how IEEE units are involved in the program of the conference (List the names of IEEE members who have access to all submitted papers and who are mainly involved in the papers acceptance process, and who participate in developing the conference program).
    • Note: If the conference organizer is an IEEE Tunisia chapter chair, the involvement of the IEEE Society as technical co-sponsor and the involvement of the chapter as 50% financial co-sponsor are required
  6. At the minimum, the committee includes 1 technical program committee co-chair is a senior/fellow IEEE society member who have a good experience in publishing IEEE papers and who have access to all reviews, participate in the papers acceptance process, and participate in developing the conference program. The review platform should be professional and the review process should be auditable by the conference coordinator.
  7. At the minimum, the committee includes 2 technical program co-chairs from foreign countries.
  8. At the minimum, the committee includes 5 known IEEE Tunisia section and society members who are involved in the review process.
  9. At the minimum, the technical program chairs assign 3 reviewers for each submitted paper. The acceptance should be based on the review of full papers (not review of only abstracts).
  10. No assignment of more than 5 papers for each reviewer.
  11. The review period must be at the minimum 4 weeks if the number of submitted papers is less than 100; and a minimum of 6 weeks otherwise.
  12. Registration fees must includes reduced fees for IEEE members: a minimum of 20% discount.
  13. The conference organizer should send to the section committee an electronic copy of the conference proceedings before the opening session.
  14. The conference organizer should send to the section committee (within 30 days after the conference) the quality report <link> and the final list of the organizing committee, reviewers, participants (including organization, country, emails), and some photos.
  15. The conference organizer should select in the conference application one of the following options for each IEEE unit:
    • Technical co-sponsorship: means a percentage of 0% (no financial involvement). In this case, the conference organizer should pay the IEEE TCS fee ($1,000 + $15 per paper submitted to IEEE Xplore).
    • Financial co-sponsorship: means that one or more IEEE units (section, chapter, etc.) are involved in the financial issues of the conference. For example: if an organizer is involved with 50% and an IEEE unit is involved with 50%, it means that after the conference, the IEEE unit will share 50% of the conference benefits (surplus) with the organizer. In case of Financial co-sponsorship, IEEE Tunisia section and its sub-units don’t participate with sharing less than 20% of the conference benefits.
    • Financial sponsorship: means that one IEEE unit is the only responsible of the conference financial issues and will receive 100% of the surplus.
  16. The conference organizer should plan a 20% surplus for the conference budget.
  17. If one of IEEE units is involved as financial sponsor, the conference organizer should send to the section committee a financial report <link> within 30 days after the conference. The Conference expenses type are described in the following web page <link>.
  18. The conference organizer should invite at the minimum 2 IEEE student members with free registration. These 2 students could help in the local arrangement issues.
  19. The conference organizer should invite the IEEE Tunisia section to organize an IEEE booth during the conference venue.
  20. The dates should not conflict with other IEEE events in Tunisia.
  21. The committee should includes at the minimum the following roles <link>. The volunteers should complete the following online courses:
    • Conference chair <link>
    • Technical program chairs <link>
    • Publications chair <link>
    • Treasurer <link>
    • Event Management <link>

Important Notes:

  • The IEEE Tunisia section may cancel the MOU at any time after the approval, if the requirements are not full filled and the technical quality issues of the accepted papers are not considered. In this case, no papers will be published in IEEE Xplore
  • The IEEE Tunisia section is committed to approve or decline the TCS request within one month
  • Review the publishing criteria <link>
  • Review the paper acceptance criteria <link>
  • After the MOU approval, the conference organizers should add the IEEE logo and the IEEE Tunisia section logo in the website, banners, and all conference flyers and materials
  • Please be advised that per IEEE Policy:
    • The term “IEEE” shall be used in the names of sole sponsored and co-sponsored conferences where IEEE is at least 50% financial sponsor (in total for all IEEE co-sponsors).
    • The use of the term “IEEE” could be used in the names of co-sponsored conferences in which IEEE is less than a 50% but at least a 25% financial sponsor (in total for all IEEE co-sponsors) (recommended but not required).
    • The term “IEEE” shall not be used in the names of co-sponsored conferences in which IEEE is less than a 25% financial sponsor (in total for all IEEE co-sponsors). This includes conferences in which IEEE is only a technical co-sponsor or is not a sponsor in any form.

List of conferences organized in Tunisia:

  • Future conferences <link>
  • Previous conferences <link>

Reviewing IEEE Conference Sponsorship Types:

Conference sponsorship can sometimes be a confusing topic, especially since IEEE uses the word ‘sponsorship’ in a different way from most other organizations.

When an IEEE Organization Unit (OU) agrees to ‘sponsor’ an IEEE conference, it refers to the ownership percentage of financial and technical responsibilities in running the conference.

IEEE recognizes three types of conference sponsorship:

  1. Sole Sponsorship
  2. Co-Sponsorship
  3. Technical Co-Sponsorship (TCS)

While Sole and Co-Sponsorship involve OU financial ownership, TCS has no OU financial involvement.

https://ieeemce.org/planning-basics/getting-started/obtaining-sponsorship/

Below are some additional characteristics of each sponsorship type:

Financial Ownership

Sole Sponsorship – A single IEEE OU has 100% ownership for all financial and technical responsibilities related to the conference.

Key Roles –

  • Aligning the conference scope with IEEE
  • Establishing processes and standards to execute a high quality technical program
  • Executing a successful conference that produces a surplus
  • Ensuring appropriate representation of the IEEE brand on all communications, websites and marketing materials
  • The sponsoring OU receives 100% of surplus or 100% responsibility for deficits

Co-Sponsorship – The IEEE OU has shared ownership (%) for financial and technical responsibilities with the other conference sponsors. A conference sponsor could be a non-IEEE organization/s or IEEE OU/s.

Key Roles –

  • The IEEE OU’s financial responsibility is shared, based on an agreed upon percentage
  • Financial management is typically the responsibility of the   majority owner
  • A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is required

No Financial Ownership

Technical Co-sponsorship – An IEEE OU has no ownership or financial responsibilities related to the conference. The IEEE OU providing TCS shares technical responsibilities including direct and substantial involvement in developing and executing a high quality technical program. The conference can utilize the IEEE brand in marketing efforts

Key Roles –

  • Validating conference scope alignment with IEEE
  • Direct involvement in the Technical Program
    • An IEEE OU volunteer is the Technical Program Chair, Co-Chair or Track Chair
    • IEEE OU volunteers participate as paper reviewers
  • Oversight of IEEE brand usage
  • A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is required