- Developing standards is really hard work.
- The all volunteer ASTM E57 committee on 3D Imaging Systems is making progress.
- The question concerns the pace.
As some may know I am involved with the ASTM International – American Society of Testing Materials E57 committee on 3D Imaging Systems. For those of you who have not been involved with developing an industry standard, I can assure you this is really difficult work. Some might use other words or phrases to describe the process, but in any case I believe nearly everyone will agree that the laser scanning industry needs this kind of structure. I am convinced that this is holding back the industry.
Sometimes I wonder if the completely volunteer approach that E57 is operating under is going to get the job done. Some might argue that the lack of published standards is evidence that the process is not working, at least not at the pace that we need it to. For those of us in the forest, it can be difficult to see the trees.
In the end the real issue is time. In this economy I doubt that anyone can completely justify their involvement in this effort. If you work in a billable time shop, this is just not going to be something that can be justified at the end of the week, but if the standards are going to be developed then either firms have to make the commitment, or we are going to have to come up with a different approach.
The one that seems to me to be a possible alternative model is the OGC – Open Geospatial Consortium. The difference with this group is that the member firms pay to belong and in some cases dedicate employees to the development of the actual standards. Most of the key players are members and the results speak for themselves. There is also a full time staff actively supporting and guiding the development of the standards.
Progress is being made. The issue is the pace.
This post was written by Gene V. Roe
