The tutorial “Introducing Information Metrics for Statistical Signal Processing,” [A1] provided the inspiration for our cover in this issue. In their “Lecture Notes” column, Steve Kay and Kaushallya Adhikari invite us to “a leisurely stroll through the garden of the beautiful information-theoretic flowers that have blossomed over the years.” This ends up being not only a pleasant stroll, but also an enriching one with useful insights into these measures and their interrelationships recounted with precision.

Multichannel signal processing technologies are moving toward the deployment of small and densely packed sensors yielding extremely large aperture arrays (ELAAs) in order to provide higher angular resolution and beamforming gain. In particular, technologies are moving beyond the fifth-generation (5G) networks, wherein the adoption of ELAAs or surfaces and the exploitation of higher-frequency bands, e.g., terahertz 

As we enter the new year, I would like to take a moment to reflect on our achievements from the past year and celebrate our successes. I am naming this “President’s Message” column the “State of the Society,” which will serve as a platform to share updates about our Society, including our activities, successes, and challenges.

After nearly a century of specialized applications in optics, remote sensing, and acoustics, the near-field (NF) electromagnetic (EM) propagation zone is experiencing a resurgence in research interest. This renewed attention is fueled by the emergence of promising applications in various fields, such as wireless communications, holography, medical imaging, and quantum-inspired systems.