Streamlining the standards development process

The technical quality of an IEEE standard and its expeditious delivery to the user community are the responsibility of highly competent professionals working in committee to achieve those results. In a way, these goals are competing forces. Rushing a standard by sacrificing quality is unacceptable, yet it is equally unacceptable to miss a market niche by delivering a standard too late. That is why the IEEE, as the best equipped standards developer in the electrotechnology field, must continue to strive for improvements in our processes. A number of years ago, the IEEE Standards Department set about designing a user-friendly, automated system that would speed up the standards development process. We are committed to this project, which we have called the Standards Process Automation System, or SPAsystem for short. When fully implemented, we expect it to introduce economies, shorten schedules, lighten the load on our volunteers, and expand international participation.<>