Dear Editor,

One of the most powerful features of our membership management system is its digital FORUMS. They can be accessed anytime, from anywhere in the world by going to IESL homepage with login credentials.

FORUMS provide us a perfect platform to collaborate, discuss, build momentum, get collective suggestions, etc. 365 days 24 hrs. This is a great thing given our busy schedules and the need for transparency/democracy.

Some are already using FORUMS. Following are a few interesting discussion topics I found that are worthy of all stake holders attention ( members, Council, Secretariat, committees):

"Opinions / comments in the following links are that of individuals who happened to be valid members of IESL at the time of their postings and are not necessarily that of IESL unless it is stated specifically."

However, the use of FORUMS in my opinion is still very limited after 20 months of implementing the system. Look at the number of topics and comments. FORUMS like other (physical) gatherings will survive with larger participation and contributions to "deliver results". To deliver results we must engage: answer questions, make suggestions, etc. To do that we must go to FORUMS regularly and/or subscribe ( so email updates come to us) to forums or specific topics.

I like to suggest to my Colleagues, The Council, Executives of the Secretariat, etc. to increase the active participation in these FORUMS to help each other and make IESL a very productive place irrespective of our time and distance constraints.

• We can type comments in any language.
• The Council could use the appropriate Forum to send regular updates to members
• Members could make suggestions and help IESL to prosper.
• Seek help on engineering problems, projects, Charter, etc.

Bottom line, FORUMS allow us to work together, openly, ON OUR WATCH and that always brings innovative ideas and faster results in a democratic environment.

Eng. Arjuna Manamperi
M-2062