IARU Region 1 President comments on Region 1 Workshop progra

[IK0ZCW]

Jun 19, 2021 - news - Alex, IV3KKW

IARU Region 1 President Don Beattie, G3BJ, speaking about the meeting he chaired on Saturday 12th June as part of the IARU Region 1 Workshop Program on the future of amateur radio, has commented “I am pleased that we now have the Program underway, and have completed the first step in our work. The overall Program is an important process to take an honest look at amateur radio today and refocus us all on the priorities for the future. Building on the self-reflection questionnaire which member societies considered in 2020, we have now created a baseline of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats which our Member Societies see facing them.”

The session on 12th June involved some 34 member societies of Region 1 from South Africa in the South to Iceland in the North and Bahrain to the East. All contributed to working sessions to review the summary views of member societies on the issues facing amateur radio.

“Our next steps will be to consider where we would like amateur radio to be in, say, ten years’ time, and to work through the steps and the programs that will help take it there” said Beattie. “We are at a time of enormous change in the environment for amateur radio and this represents a big challenge for IARU and its member societies. With the commitment of our member societies through this workshop program, I believe we can rise to that challenge”

Workshop participants are now considering the output from the 12th June session, and beginning to build their inputs to discussions about the future shape of amateur radio, scheduled for the next steps of the program in Serbia in October.