Importance of Standards

Design Automation (DA) standards are desperately needed by government and industry. The need for standards has reached a critical threshold as evidenced by the intensity of interest in standards work. Key technical people from all sections of the engineering community are voicing their ideas, and cooperating on a scale never before witnessed. Much progress has been made in standards development. This paper will discuss that work, some of the rationale behind the work, and the current status and accomplishments of one IEEE Standards Committee.