The practicality gap between theoretical concepts, or even lab prototypes, and commercially viable products is quite often a bridge too far. The root causes for such shortcomings may simply be that a new technology is not well suited for real-world environments or economic variables, such as cost, may be to blame. A limiting factor often overlooked in technology transfer programs is a lack of high-quality, accessible technical standards that are also definitive and relevant. Standards are essential for driving high-technology products to market that are reasonably priced for the consumer. Standards also reduce barriers to market entry for small, innovative start-up companies by incentivizing products that are interoperable between different manufacturers. The global standards development ecosystem has evolved into a very competitive landscape with significant repercussions for national job creation and economic prosperity. The voluntary consensus model has long been the predominant process for developing standards that reflect the best merit-based technology solutions to complex problems. This column is the first installment in a two-part series that highlights the preeminent role of the IEEE Signal Processing Society’s Synthetic Aperture Standards Committee (SPS-SASC) in developing standards related to computational imaging and sensing technologies and the technical leadership exercised by its active working groups.
