Call for Bids – R8 flagship & portfolio conferences 2026

The R8 Conference Coordination Committee is inviting you to apply for organization of one of the R8 flagship and portfolio conferences in 2026, with the following expectations:

1. 23th IEEE MELECON 2026 (150 participants)
2. 9th IEEE ENERGYCON 2026 (150 participants)
3. 10th IEEE RTSI 2026 (150 participants)

The timelines for proposals:

• 1st step: Upload the following documents: 30 November 2023
  • Letter of Intent: It should be sent by the local organizing committee chair stating their intention to organize the conference in a particular city (specify the university/venue, if already known) and listing the organisations providing technical and organizational support (specify university/ies, chapters, other not for profit organizations). Include the experience of the team in organizing IEEE international conferences and any other information useful to consider the proposed site and team as appropriate to organize the R8 conference. This letter is typically one single page and should not exceed 3 pages.
  • Endorsement letter: It should be signed by the IEEE Section Chair as representative of the Section that fully supports the organization of the event as stated in the letter of intent. Participation of the Section as financial co-sponsor shall be indicated with the percentage of financial involvement. Participation of Societies, Chapters, and Affinity Groups as TCS is well recommended. Any additional information regarding the bid and the organizing team is welcomed. This letter is typically one single page.
• 2nd step: upload Final bid (presentation + budget): 31 December 2023
  • Detailed presentation of the proposal
  • Detailed budget
  • Other supporting documents

Submissions for the two steps should be done via the same form <submission form link> (requires IEEE Google app access)

• https://bit.ly/R8-Conf-Bid

Selection results will be announced during the R8 Spring Committee meeting in March 2024.

The submitted final bid should includes the following material for evaluation by the committee:

• A detailed presentation (ppt) showing
  
  • Brief information on the hosting country (include list of restrictions, if any)
  • Details on the proposed venue facilities and at least one possible backup
  • Details on how national and international researchers can reach the venue (Travel facilities)
  • Technical topics covered within the conference
  • Proposed organizing committee (Conference chairs, Program committee chairs, Treasurer, Publication chair) <more details>
  • List of involved IEEE units and List of partners
  • Expected industrial financial support (Patrons)
  • Expected impact of the conference for the IEEE OUs (section, subsection, chapter) vitality
  • Budget summary, registration fees, and balance for the expected case, worst case, and best case; according to the number of paid participants (consider fully physical attendance)
  • Details on your plan if virtual/hybrid model will be required, budget, and registration fees
  • Highlight the positive aspects of organizing the conference at the proposed section/subsection, How the local members will benefit, How IEEE will benefit
  • Other useful information
• A detailed budget <template> for fully physical attendance model
  • Given the nature of these Conferences, it is important to keep the registration fees for IEEE members low
  • Includes all envisaged sponsorships (industrial, governmental, academia, etc) enabling for reduced registration costs
  • Includes all envisaged expenses
  • Gives an indication of the surplus (recommended to be around 20%). The conference budget should be realistic according to the number of expected participants. The financial sponsorship share should be a minimum of 30% for Region 8 (except for IHTC: R8 FCS is 60%, R7 and R9 FCS 20% each). The rest of the financial risk/reward balance and assessment percentage should be for the IEEE OUs (section, subsection, chapter)
• Other supporting letters supporting your proposal

Eligibility:

• IEEE Region 8 flagship and portfolio conferences are intended, among other things, to support IEEE OUs in the Region. Therefore, a bid to host one of the IEEE Region 8 Flagship conferences should originate from the host IEEE Section (or Subsection or Chapter, in cases where no Section exists in the host country).
• Conference committee members should complete the Training online courses <link>.
• General conference chairs and finance chairs must be of Senior Member grade residing in R8 and well involved in the preparation of the bid.
• The general chair should present the bid during the conference committee meeting.
• The conference management and registration platform(s) should be approved by IEEE R8. The organizers should use the previous IEEE conference domain website and the IEEE Concentration Banking account for financial management. Exceptions require approval from the R8 OpCom.

Selection Criteria:

• The R8 conference coordination committee selects proposals based on the following criteria and presents the selected proposals for R8 committee approval during the spring committee meeting:
  • Section/Subsection vitality (number of events in the previous year, ontime submission of events and financial reports, recruitment % to goal, retention % to goal) – 30 pts
  • Venue facilities (main venue and backup) – 10 pts
  • Travel facilities to venue – 15 pts
  • Committee – Experienced volunteers and R8 senior members – 20 pts
  • Involvement of IEEE units and partners – 20 pts
  • Industrial financial support (Patrons) – 10 pts
  • Low registration fees – 30 pts
  • Discussion of expected case, worst case, and best case; and if needed: in fully virtual – hybrid – fully physical – 20 pts
  • Impact of organizing the flagship conference to the section activities – 15 pts
  • Proposal highlights / presentation – 15 pts
  • Endorsement / support letters – 1 pts / letter (max. 5 pts)
  • No R8 flagship / portfolio conferences organized previously – 5 pts
  • No same conference title organized previously in the section – 5 pts

Notes:

• Learn further details about
  • Timeline to organize an IEEE conference <link>
  • Guidance and ressources on how to organize an IEEE conference <link>
  • How to organize hybrid and virtual events <link>
  • Recommended Practices to Ensure Technical Conference Content Quality <link>
• The IEEE Region 8 financial supports its Flagship conferences with some seed funds up to a maximum of US $5,000 depending on the size of the conference and as decided by the IEEE Region 8 Committee. This is the maximum risk that IEEE Region 8 will be exposed to. It also technically supports the conference and helps with the distribution of the Call for Papers and advertising. The seed funding must be returned to the Region 8 within one month after the end of the Conference, revenue permitting.
• The conference committee should respect the following:
  • IEEE Code of Ethics (section 7.8 from the IEEE Policy Manual) <link>
  • IEEE Publications Operations Manual <link>
  • IEEE Technical Activities Operations Manual (Section 6) <link>
  • IEEE MGA Operations Manual (Section 10) <link>
• List of sections / subsections chairs <link>
• List of Conference Coordinators <link>
• If you have any questions or need more information, please, fell free to contact us by e-mail <[email protected]>.

Call for New R8 flagship / Portfolio Conferences & Technical Events

The R8 Conference Coordination Committee is looking for ideas for new R8 flagship conferences/technical events on cutting edge topics and sectors, that can be organized as financial co-sponsored conference at the beginning, and the successful ones can be promoted to flagship conferences in the future.

If you have ideas for new events, please, fell free to contact us by e-mail <[email protected]>.

Learn more about IEEE Conferences and how to organize hybrid and virtual events <link>.

Region 8 flagship conferences:

• MELECON: biannual (even years), held in one of the Mediterranean Sections
  • MELECON is a major international forum presenting design methodologies, techniques and experimental results in emerging electro-technologies. MELECON is one of the flagship conferences of the IEEE Region 8 with participants from all over the world. The purpose of this conference is serve as catalyst for the technical exchange between researchers and practitioners from different technological fields including Control Systems, Communication and Information Technology, Mechatronics, Nano- & Micro-Electronics, Electrical Power Systems, and Signal & Image Processing. The technical program includes plenary sessions, regular technical sessions, special sessions, poster sessions and tutorials.
• ENERGYCON: biannual (even years), about energy topics, held anywhere in R8
  • ENERGYCON is a flagship event of IEEE Region 8 (Europe, Middle East and Africa) held every two years in a different Country. ENERGYCON is an international forum for the exchange of ideas and innovative technologies on Sustainable Generation, Transmission and Distribution, Conversion and Utilization of Electrical Energy. It is also the premier IEEE Region 8 forum for the application of Electronics, Instrumentation, Information and Communication Technology in the Electrical Energy Industry.
• EUROCON: biannual (odd years), held in a European Section
  • EUROCON is an IEEE Region 8 flagship conference on the European continent. Topics cover the full area of IEEE, e.g., Communications, Networks, Electronics, Energy, Mobile Computing, Cloud Computing, Software, Engineering, Nanotechnology, and E-learning.
• AFRICON: biannual (odd years), held in an African Section/subsection
  • AFRICON is an IEEE Region 8 flagship conference on the African continent. Topics cover the full area of IEEE, e.g., Communications, Networks, Electronics, Energy, Mobile Computing, Cloud Computing, Software, Engineering, Nanotechnology, and E-learning

Region 8 portfolio conferences:

• HISTELCON: binannual (odd years), about history of electrical technologies, held anywhere in R8
  • HISTELCON aims to increase the understanding of the origins and of the early developments of electrical technologies – in particular of telecommunications. Original and innovative contributions are invited in areas including, but not restricted to:
    • Origins and early developments of electro-technologies
    • Milestones in different fields of electro-technology, both early and modern
    • Scientists and Technologists involved in the above
    • Museum items and educational methods illustrating the above

• RTSI: annual, Research and Technologies for Society and Industry, held anywehere in R8
  • RTSI is an annual meeting of researchers and industry professionals in the field of electrical, electronic, and information science and engineering. Specifically, the main purposes of the event are:
    • to promote and strengthen partnerships and cooperation between Academia and Industry;
    • to increase understanding and awareness of how engineering and technology can positively affect quality of life;
    • to promote discussion between the research community and government bodies about effective and successful research policies;
    • to disseminate recent advancements, discoveries and applications;
    • to discuss ideas and promote cooperation between researchers working in different research areas.
• IHTC: annual, Multi-Regional Humanitarian Technologies Conference Series rotating between R7 (Canada), R8 (Africa, Europe and Middle East), and R9 (Latin America and Caribbean)
  • IHTC is an inter-disciplinary conference series focuses on showcasing challenges, success stories, lessons learnt, case studies and technological innovation related to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ICT4D and the application of Humanitarian Technologies (including Disaster Relief and Disaster Recovery) and facilitating engagement stakeholders from the public, private, education and research and societal sectors around the world. We place a particular emphasis on facilitating participation by key stakeholder groups from low and lower middle-income countries as well as low resource communities.

R8 Flagship and Portfolio Conference Archives