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Author Topic: IARU and Amateur Radio are Reaching “an Inflection Point”  (Read 571 times)

G3ZHI

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IARU and Amateur Radio are Reaching “an Inflection Point”
« on: November 12, 2019, 12:39:42 AM »

IARU and Amateur Radio are Reaching “an Inflection Point”
11/08/2019
Participants at the 45th meeting of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Administrative Council (AC) in late September discussed the organization’s role in advancing amateur radio going forward. The IARU released a summary record of the meeting this week. IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH/G4HUA, who chaired the AC meeting in Lima, Peru, observed that the IARU and amateur radio are reaching what he called “an inflection point.” He asserted that amateur radio is changing, but the IARU and its member-societies are not.

Ellam’s remarks prefaced a wide-ranging discussion of the challenges to be overcome if the IARU and amateur radio itself are to remain relevant. After several hours of discussion, AC participants agreed on four top-level headings to identify the challenges that must be faced:

What is amateur radio?
The roles of IARU and its member-societies
Recruitment into amateur radio
IARU finances
The AC also agreed that it is essential to involve younger people from outside the Council in determining how to address these challenges, and the three IARU regions were asked to identify individuals who “could take ownership of these topics.”

A small working group was named, consisting of IARU Region 2 Vice President Ramón Santoyo, XE1KK; Region 2 Area A Director George Gorsline, VE3YV, and IARU Region 1 President Don Beattie, G3BJ. Using topics discussed to develop a starting point, the panel will aim to have a draft version of a plan by mid-December to address the challenges that would serve as a basis for further discussion.

IARU Region 1 (Europe, Africa, and the Mideast) has been a leader in marshalling interest among next-generation radio amateurs, sponsoring Youngsters On The Air (YOTA), and other youth-related activities, including a summer camp each year attended by young radio amateurs from around Region 1. IARU Region 3 noted at the Council meeting that it plans a Youth on the Air activity in Thailand next October and expressed the hope that Regions 1 and 2 can participate.

In other matters, based on a suggestion from Fred Matos, W3ICM — a National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) spectrum manager — the AC agreed to change the objective of the IARU HF World Championship contest to read as follows: “To support amateur self-training in radiocommunications, including improving amateur operating skills, conducting technical investigations, and intercommunicating with other amateurs around the world, especially IARU member-society headquarters stations, using the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands.”

According to an AC meeting document, Matos’ rationale is that the objective of an IARU-sponsored activity should tie directly to the ITU Radio Regulations.

In a related matter, the Council agreed to indicate to ARRL, which administers the competition, that it would favor relaxing rules for multioperator, single transmitter, mixed-mode entries — which the AC views as more restrictive and punitive than those that apply to most other contests — without affecting scoring and adjudication. Under current rules, multioperator, single transmitter, mixed-mode entries must remain on a band and mode for at least 10 minutes before changing bands or modes, and violating the band change rules will reclassify the entry as a check log. The IARU event is held each July.

To keep informed on IARU happenings, subscribe to the ARRL-IARU online group, moderated by IARU Secretary Dave Sumner, K1ZZ.
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NN4RH

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Re: IARU and Amateur Radio are Reaching “an Inflection Point”
« Reply #1 on: November 14, 2019, 07:51:44 AM »

I don't follow the reference to "inflection point".
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K6CPO

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Re: IARU and Amateur Radio are Reaching “an Inflection Point”
« Reply #2 on: November 14, 2019, 11:40:31 AM »

It's obviously the wrong use of the word.  The Oxford American Dictionary defines "inflection" as "1. A change in the form of a word (typically the ending) to show a grammatical function or quality such as tense, mood, person, number, case and gender." 2. "a variation in intonation or pitch of the voice."

What the speaker could have possibly meant, I have no idea...
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KB5UZB

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Re: IARU and Amateur Radio are Reaching “an Inflection Point”
« Reply #3 on: November 14, 2019, 11:44:16 AM »

An inflection point can be used to describe a change in direction for a measurement or organization or trend too. (Similar to definition 2, but not voice specific). That said, it was hard to tell from the OP's post what was inflecting. Perhaps the focus on youth?
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VE6SH

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Re: IARU and Amateur Radio are Reaching “an Inflection Point”
« Reply #4 on: November 15, 2019, 01:50:02 AM »

Hmm. I thought I was clear. An "inflection point" is a time of significant change in a situation or a turning point for a group or organization. It is a common management expression. My point was simply amateur radio has changed and continues to change, but the organizations that represent the amateur service are not reacting to that change and maybe in danger of becoming irrelevant. You should look at the Summary Record for that AC meeting (the link is provided) which provides a fuller description of the discussion.

73

Tim VE6SH
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K7KBN

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Re: IARU and Amateur Radio are Reaching “an Inflection Point”
« Reply #5 on: November 16, 2019, 04:10:25 PM »

Common management expression?

Hasn't appeared in a "Dilbert" strip yet.
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73
Pat K7KBN
CWO4 USNR Ret.

N3DF

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Re: IARU and Amateur Radio are Reaching “an Inflection Point”
« Reply #6 on: November 21, 2019, 06:33:45 PM »

And this IARU article about member societies reforming themselves affects amateur radio licensing how?
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Neil N3DF

N8AUC

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Re: IARU and Amateur Radio are Reaching “an Inflection Point”
« Reply #7 on: November 22, 2019, 12:43:36 PM »

Common management expression?

Hasn't appeared in a "Dilbert" strip yet.

It's what you encounter after Alice unleashes her "fist of death".
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K7KBN

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Re: IARU and Amateur Radio are Reaching “an Inflection Point”
« Reply #8 on: July 12, 2020, 09:25:34 PM »

Wouldn't that be an "infliction" point?
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73
Pat K7KBN
CWO4 USNR Ret.

AJ4WC

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Re: IARU and Amateur Radio are Reaching “an Inflection Point”
« Reply #9 on: August 07, 2020, 07:20:14 PM »

It is often used in strategic planning meetings. It’s now almost as cliche as phrases like ‘Thinking out of the box,’ and everyone’s favorite, ‘Let’s circle back...’, which almost sounds pornographic somehow...
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W9IQ

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Re: IARU and Amateur Radio are Reaching “an Inflection Point”
« Reply #10 on: August 07, 2020, 07:29:11 PM »

It is derived from the field of mathematics.

- Glenn W9IQ
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- Glenn W9IQ

God runs electromagnetics on Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the wave theory and the devil runs it on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday by the Quantum theory.

N8AUC

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Re: IARU and Amateur Radio are Reaching “an Inflection Point”
« Reply #11 on: August 08, 2020, 11:06:04 AM »

It is derived from the field of mathematics.

- Glenn W9IQ
I could be wrong on this since it's been many years since I sat in a Calculus class in Engineering school.

But if I remember right, an inflection point is a point where the first derivative of a function changes sign.
And since the value of the first derivative is essentially the slope of the function at a given point, the slope changes direction at an inflection point. Like, before it was going down, now it's going up, or vice versa.

So when taken in an organizational context, an inflection point refers to a change in direction of the organization.

73 de N8AUC
Eric

« Last Edit: August 08, 2020, 11:08:40 AM by N8AUC »
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