What Is the Communications Society?

The Communications Society, formally the IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc), is a professional organization within the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers that focuses on advancing communications science, technology, and engineering. It serves as the primary IEEE organization for researchers, engineers, and practitioners working on the theory and application of communication systems, networks, and related technologies. The Society supports its members through technical publications, conferences, standards activities, and educational programs, and it maintains an active role in shaping the direction of communications research and industry practice worldwide.

Founded in 1952 as the IRE Professional Group on Communications Systems, the Society has grown to become one of the largest IEEE technical societies, reflecting the central importance of communications technology to modern industrial and social infrastructure. Its scope spans wireless and optical communications, networking, information theory, and the hardware and software systems that implement these technologies.

Mission and Technical Scope

The IEEE Communications Society's mission is to connect, educate, and promote technological advancement in communications for the benefit of humanity. Its technical scope covers the full range of communications sub-fields, including wireless systems, optical fiber networks, satellite communications, network architecture, signal processing for communications, and the standards and protocols that define interoperability. The Society collaborates with other IEEE technical societies on topics at the intersection of communications with adjacent fields such as signal processing, vehicular technology, and computer science. The IEEE Communications Society publishes its scope and membership resources through its official web presence, which also documents its organizational structure and governance.

Publications and Research Programs

ComSoc maintains one of the largest portfolios of peer-reviewed journals in the electrical engineering field. The IEEE Transactions on Communications, first published in 1953, is among the most cited journals in its discipline and covers both theoretical and applied work across all major communications sub-fields. The IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications publishes focused collections on emerging topics, allowing the Society to respond quickly to fast-moving research areas such as millimeter-wave 5G, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, and machine learning for communications. IEEE Communications Magazine serves a broader readership with tutorial articles and coverage of industry trends. The Society also coordinates technical committees that organize workshops, solicit special issues, and maintain the research agenda in specific areas from optical networking to Internet-of-Things communications.

Conferences and Community

The Society sponsors and co-sponsors major international conferences that serve as the primary venues for presenting new research results and fostering community. IEEE GLOBECOM and IEEE ICC (International Conference on Communications) are the Society's two flagship annual events, each drawing thousands of attendees and hundreds of technical paper presentations. Regional conferences and workshops organized by Society chapters extend this community activity to local engineering populations. The GLOBECOM conference series has been held continuously since 1956 and its proceedings represent a significant portion of the published record in communications engineering. Through student membership programs, distinguished lecturer tours, and online learning resources, the Society also supports the professional development of early-career engineers entering the field.

Applications

The work of the IEEE Communications Society influences outcomes across a wide range of fields, including:

• Mobile and broadband wireless network research and standardization
• Optical and fiber communications systems development
• Internet and packet network architecture
• Satellite and space communications engineering
• Communications security and network reliability research