Thursday, 15th December 2022, 9 - 11 am (AST)

ISCA Geographical Outreach Online Workshop was held in Argentina on Thursday, 15th December 2022 from 9 - 11 am (AST). The workshop was organized by Prof. Hugo Leonardo Rufiner, SINC, UNL, Santa Fe, Argentina. The faculty members, researchers and research scholars from different parts of Argentina working in the speech communication field joined the meeting. There was also a faculty from Costa Rica who attended the workshop. Another professor from the West Indies also participated in the workshop. Professors from Chile reported that they were interested in participating but had trouble connecting due to a strike at their university. From the ISCA board side Prof. Nobuaki MINEMATSU, Prof. Ioana Vasilescuand Prof. S. R. Mahadeva Prasanna attended the workshop.

After a brief introduction of their research interests, Prof. S. R. Mahadeva Prasanna welcomed all the participants of the workshop and gave an overview of different activities of ISCA and the interest of ISCA to enhance its activities in Argentina, in particular and Latin America, in general. Prof. Nobuaki MINEMATSU explained different opportunities available under special interest groups (SIGs) schemes, both for languages and topics. He also showed various links available in the ISCA website and explained how they can apply for SIGs, if they are interested. He also explained about the ISCA distinguished lecturers scheme available and how different groups in Argentina can benefit from them by arranging talks and also interaction. Prof. Ioana Vasilescuexplained about the various grants and supports available from ISCA side organizing various events like tutorial and research workshops, schools, workshops etc.

The attendees asked about different details and information specific to the organization and activities of ISCA. In particular they discussed possible ways of incorporating colleagues from South and Latin America. They also look for different alternatives at research collaboration with ISCA support by means of the creation of new Special Interests Groups (SIG). For example, for crowdsourcing to collect data on EEG signals related to speech production. The issue that high registration and travel costs are a major barrier preventing colleagues from these countries from participating in Interspeech conferences was also discussed. Finally the possibility to organize some ISCA Workshops/Conferences in South and Latin America is analyzed. Some participants volunteered to help create a new Subcommittee for these regions. The attendees proposed to organize another meeting in early 2023 to bring other colleagues and continue the discussions. Contact details from them will be shared in order to promote networking and collaboration.