Industry News
The New Initiatives of the
IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA)
Mary Lynne Nielsen, Program Director of Global Operations and Outreach at the IEEE Standards Association, presented a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the new initiatives of the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) at the Spring Board Meeting of the Board of Directors of Region 7 (April 21, 2018, Mississauga, ON).
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IEEE standards are of great interest to both academic and industrial innovators, as they provide specifications that inform and regulate a wide range of design and innovation processes in electrical, computer, and software engineering.
Considering the main stages of engineering innovations (conceptual, pre-competitive, competitive R&D, and deployment/ development), IEEE standards are essential for the last two steps. They provide much-needed specifications for the commercial designs and deployments of new technologies, thus ensuring the safety, compatibility and interoperability of a wide range of products and services.
Nielsen announced updates to the IEEE-SA government engagement program, which currently involves government members from South Korea, India and the US. This program provides a platform allowing government ministries from around the world to increase their understanding of, and engagement with, the IEEE-SA and its standards development activities. Moreover, it facilitates dialogue on government priorities to the IEEE standardization ecosystem. More information at about this program can be found at https://standards.ieee.org/about/sasb/gop-faq.pdf.
Of great interest to engineering students and to their academic supervisors is the IEEE Standards University Student Grants Program. This program offers grants to undergraduate and graduate students and to their faculty advisors for graduate and capstone design projects involving an industry standards component. Grants include US$500 for students, with additional honoraria for faculty mentors. More information about this program can be found at https://www.standardsuniversity.org/grants/.
Nielsen concluded her talk by mentioning that the active partnership of IEEE-SA with Canada is increasing, and by encouraging the attendees to share opportunities for further engagement. As Canadian IEEE members, we can help by increasing awareness of IEEE-SA locally, for an increased use and application of IEEE standards in Canada. We can also get involved in the development of new standards on emergent technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, by volunteering in the IEEE Global Initiative on Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems (see https://standards.ieee.org/develop/indconn/ec/autonomous_systems.html ).
Contributed by Alexandra Branzan Albu
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