Indice
6 Signs that indicate you need to transform
Many scientific societies, foundations, and associations still manage their daily operations with scattered tools, manual processes, or structures that don’t scale. If these situations sound familiar, it may be time to take the next step.
Because modernization is no longer optional: it’s a necessity to remain relevant and efficient.
1. Each committee or group “works on its own,” without a shared space
Scientific committees, working groups, or boards are the heart of knowledge. But if each one uses its own management system (emails, cloud folders, Word documents…), it becomes difficult to coordinate efforts, share progress, or track decisions. In the long run, efficiency is lost, and cross-collaboration is limited.
2. You use different tools for each key process (and they don’t talk to each other)
There’s a difference between diversifying tools and multiplying inefficiencies. If you manage members with Excel, events with Eventbrite, billing with an external program, and communications with Mailchimp or Gmail… you’re losing time (and probably money). The lack of integration prevents a global view of your organization and creates duplications and errors.
3. You don’t know how many active members you have or their level of engagement
The total number of members may be clear. But… how many are up to date with their fees? Who participates in activities? Who is part of committees? Who opens your communications? Without centralized data, it’s hard to make strategic decisions about growth, retention, or representation.
4. Information exists… but it’s poorly distributed or hard to access
It’s common to find valuable information —minutes, reports, project documents, or scientific records— stored across multiple folders, with no shared logic and difficult access. When someone new joins, it’s hard for them to find what they need. This slows down work, creates dependency on specific people, and undermines organizational efficiency.
5. Internal elections or board renewals are a “headache”
Although essential for legitimacy and transparency, they are often organized hastily, in insecure formats, or without digital traceability. Candidate submissions by email? In-person voting with paper ballots? These practices, while common, now generate doubts, inaccuracies, and even mistrust.
6. Operational management has taken center stage… displacing the scientific mission
In many organizations, the team or board spends most of its time on tasks such as member management, billing, communications, event logistics, or group coordination. All of this is important, of course. But if it consumes 80% of the time, little remains for knowledge generation, training, or positioning the society as a reference.
What can you do if this sounds familiar?
The good news is that you are not alone. Many scientific organizations have faced the same challenges, especially after the pandemic. Today, digitalization is no longer just about having a website: it means building a solid, connected, and intelligent structure that frees up time and energy for what really matters.
- Create unified collaborative spaces for working groups.
- Centralize all key processes in a single platform, adapted to the health sector if you are a medical scientific society.
- Offer members a modern, useful, and accessible private area.
- Use dashboards to make decisions based on real data.
- Automate repetitive processes without losing control or quality.
It’s not about changing for the sake of change. It’s about aligning technology with your mission. Managing better… to go further.
The future is not tomorrow: it’s how you decide today
These 6 signs are more common than you might think. Most Spanish scientific societies —such as those integrated in FACME – Federation of Spanish Medical-Scientific Associations or COSCE – Confederation of Scientific Societies of Spain— are facing these challenges with a strategic, gradual approach, while keeping their mission in focus.
🎯 Digital transformation is not only about technology: it is about strategy, governance, and vision for the future, and it starts with three key questions:
- What are our main pain points?
- Which process generates the most friction or inefficiency?
- What impact would solving it have for members, teams, and the scientific community?
