1. IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Ad-Hoc Committee on Regional VPs Ken Goldberg, Chair Antonio Bicchi Aydan Erkmen Toshio Fukuda Georges Giralt Gerd Hirzinger Pradeep Khosla George Lee Sukhan Lee Ren Luo TJ Tarn Frank v/d Stappen Shinichi Yuta

2. Proposal Matrix Organization of Officers: 5 existing VPs focus on function across regions 2 new VP’s focus on regions across functions

3. Summary of Discussions Efforts to enhance globalization are indeed welcome Adcomm usually includes members from all regions already Adding a layer of management is not always benefitial Additional budget may not be justified, especially during lean times Euron is a newly established European Robotics Organization

4. Summary (cont’d) Encourage more members to participate in RAS leadership The VP term in most societies is 2 years except Treasurer. RAS terms of 4 years may be too long. Make our Distinguished Lecture Program more visible, RAS current budget for is US $4,500. Other societies, such as CS and NNS, have US $15,000 since 2000. However, Finance VP David Orin advised us that the RAS budget is decreasing.

5. Recommendations 1) Regional VP's are not necessary at this time 2) Develop mechanisms to involve/engage elected Adcomm members to fill these and other specific roles 3) Establish Regional cooperation between Euron, RSJ, and RAS MAB 4) The International Board should be more active in Regions 8,10. 5) Consider reducing term of RAS VPs from 4 years to 2 year (allowing second terms) to encourage more members to participate. (exception: VP of Finance term should be much longer: 4-6 years) 6) Increase the budget and visibility of the Distinguished Lecture Program. TAB VP B. Siciliano will recommend an increase to US $6,000/year.