IEEE ComSoc Argentina Chapter: Winner of the 2020 Chapter Achievement Award

By J. Ignacio Alvarez-Hamelin - Argentina Chapter Chair

Argentina is a country with an extension of 2,780,400 km2 and a population of 45 million people. Communications’ activity is mostly developed and represented by a large community of operators, industries, and research institutions. The development is shown, for example, in its extensive mobile network, with several national fiber-optic networks, including the “Red Federal de Fibra Óptica,” (Federal Fiber-Optic Network) covering 33,000 km. Also to be highlighted is the development of satellites for both communications and scientific research, radars for air traffic control, and the second Internet network in South-America, as shown in the photos.

Argentina has several universities and national organizations such as CONAE for space development, INTI for the industry, INTA for agriculture and livestock, and CITEDEF for defense. All of them use communications technologies, and some also develop these technologies. For instance, CONAE produces satellites that impact INTA activities, or INTA was one of the most developed fields of IoT technologies.

SAC-D mission was a collaboration between CONAE (Space Agency of Argentina) and INVAP, in cooperation with NASA, and space agencies of Brazil, Denmark, Italy and Germany. Photo by NASA - http://aquarius.umaine.edu/cgi/gal_images.htm?id=3 (image source), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7881792

During 2019, Argentina’s local chapter developed many activities toward improving ComSoc visibility within the local community. Consequently, we are very honored and proud to be the recipients of the ComSoc Chapter Activities Award for the ComSoc Latin America Region.

IEEE ComSoc Argentina Chapter’s main activities were focused on establishing relations among the industry, academia, and governmental organizations. To accomplish this goal, many seminars were organized throughout the year focused on different topics, from new technologies to applications of existing technologies, and also education. All events were open and free of charge to attract a larger audience.

Throughout 2019, the following actions were organized:

  • 2019 March (UTN, National Technical University–Argentina, three hours) “SDR Receptor’s Anatomy” and “Satellite Communications.” Introduction to Sofware Defined Radio and its relations with FPGAs and Microcontrollers (Nicolás Sidorczuk and Marcelo Doallo). Satellite Communications (Organizers of https://zruput.org/).

  • 2019 September (UBA/FI, Universidad de Buenos Aires, School of Engineering, two hours) “Smart Grids: Learning, Processing, and Communications.” Discussion Panel: Oscar Gonzalez (Argentinean Information and Communications Undersecretary), Marco Zanoni (System and Communications Manager of Camuzzi Gas), Giuseppe Di Girolamo (Electric Network Operation of Edesur), Mariano Michelli (Applications and Development Manager of Tesacom), Emmanuel Jaffrot (Deputy COO - WND Group). Conference: Andrea M. Tonello (IEEE ComSoc DL, Universidad de Klagenfurt).

  • 2019 September (CONICET, National Scientific and Technical Research Council–Argentina, two hours) “Power Line Communications and Applications.” Andrea M. Tonello (IEEE ComSoc DL, Universidad de Klagenfurt).

  • 2019 September (UNMAR, Universidad de Mar del Plata–Argentina, one hour) “Massive Communications on IoT.” Andrea M. Tonello (IEEE ComSoc DL, Universidad de Klagenfurt).

  • 2019 September (UNMAR, Universidad del Sur–Argentina, one hour) “Where PLC Meets Wireless: Communications for Massive IoT and Smart Grid.” Andrea M. Tonello (IEEE ComSoc DL, Universidad de Klagenfurt).

  • 2019 October (UBA/FI, Universidad de Buenos Aires, School of Engineering, two hours) “Evolution of Mobile Telecommunications: 5G.” Discussion Panel: Hugo Miguel (Undersecretary of Informatics and Communications Planning), Lucas Gallito (Public Policy Director–GSMA), Celedonio von Wuthenau (Head of Government Relations LAT–Nokia), Daniel Martello (Network Evolution Manager for CU Latam South–Ericsson), Benjamin Silva (CDO Video, Strategy, Solutions, and Operations LATAM–Huawei), Miguel Ángel Pesado,( President of COPITEC, professional association). Conference: Ashutosh Dutta (IEEE ComSoc DL, Johns Hopkins University).

Throughout 2020, all activities were organized virtually due to the pandemic, so the local Argentine chapter promoted a series of regional webinars with experts in different technologies. They were presented in Spanish, the preponderant language in Latin America, so they were accessible for many other members and non-members in the region. All talks were recorded and distributed over a Youtube channel, providing wider access. On average, there were 50 participants per session and another 160 views of the recorded seminars. The activities were called IEEE ComSoc Argentina Open Webinar (titles are translated):

  • 2020 July (UBA/FI, Universidad de Buenos Aires, School of Engineering, one hour), “Electromagnetic Wave Shielding in Unconventional Materials.” Silvina Boggi (UBA/FI).

  • 2020 August (UNC, Universidad de Córdoba-Argentina, one hour), “Routing the Space Internet with Contact Graph Routing Algorithm.” Juan A. Fraire (IEEE Member, UNC-CONICET).

  • 2020 September (UNC, Universidad de Córdoba-Argentina, one hour), “Congestion and Scalability in Space Networks.” Pablo Madoery (UNC-CONICET).

  • 2020 October (UBA/FI, Universidad de Buenos Aires, School of Engineering, one hour), “What is New in the Networks of Things?” Cecilia Galarza (UBA-CONICET).

  • 2020 November (UBA/FI, Universidad de Buenos Aires, School of Engineering, one hour), “From Information Providers to the User: How Does the Internet Work?” J. Ignacio Alvarez-Hamelin (Senior Member, UBA-CONICET).

We will continue to carry on with these open activities, pursuing the connection among the different sectors, like academia, industry, and government, also targeting regional integration.

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