Where are the government industries heading in a world of commercialization of EMC?

Use of NDI (nondevelopment items)/COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) equipment is a “new way of doing business” and is extensively applied in government installations. This also necessitates the consideration of EMC requirements, especially when such equipment is embedded in systems operating in a “harsh” electromagnetic environment. The main burden in the application of NDI equipment, especially with respect to EMC, falls on the system integrators, since that equipment typically does not meet the full EMC requirements dictated by the environment. Understanding the relationship between commercial EMC standards and the operational electromagnetic environment is therefore required in order to verify and ensure the equipment´s compatibility. The author argues that it seems that the Government industries have not fully “digested the change”. It is clear, therefore, that they should develop a systematic and logical approach for COTS equipment integration