The IEEE Standards Process Automation System

m The IEEE’s Standards Process Automation System (SPAsystem TM) is an ongoing project to apply computing and networking technologies to the creation and use of IEEE standards and related information. This project is a rare opportunity to rethink the entire process by which IEEE standards are written and read, free from the assumptions that paper is the sole interchange and distribution medium. EEE standards are written by hundreds of working groups. Some of these volunteers use computers, some do not; some have Internet access, and some do not. Those with computers use a variety of software that reflects the diversity of the computer marketplace, and the IEEE staff who administers the standards process cannot control this input. Staff members work with the groups, shepherd their documents through the process, and edit them. Information flows from author to editor and back again many times. Traditionally, the results of this work would be a book. After publication, the document in some electronic form is fed back to the working group so they can begin the next iteration of the document.