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March 2017 • The PCB Magazine 87 IPC'S GLOBAL POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR 2017—SMART ADVOCACY FOR THE INDUSTRY Visit our Getting Involved page to discover the ways you can pitch in and help, including: • Stay informed on the issues that affect us all by subscribing to IPC's Global Advocacy Re- port. • Be in contact with your elected representa- tives. Send emails, make phone calls, or meet with them at the local coffee shop or district of- fice. IPC's government relations team can help arrange meetings and provide you with talking points and handouts. Also, be sure to partici- pate in IPC action alerts. • Host an elected official at one of your facil- ities. You can offer a tour, a briefing or a demo, and a chance for them to speak to your employ- ees. Again, IPC's government relations team is here to help. • Attend one of IPC's annual advocacy events, called "IMPACT," in Washington [2] , DC, or Brussels. IMPACT events give C-level executives of IPC member companies a chance to meet face-to-face with top government officials to discuss the issues we care about. • Every year, have your company sign a prior authorization form for the IPC Political Action Committee (IPC PAC). The IPC PAC supports pro-manufacturing Congressional candidates, from both parties. Visit IPC.org/PAC to sign the prior authorization form and to learn more about the IPC PAC. At the end of the day, government should craft smart policies that allow businesses like ours to innovate, deliver great products and ser- vices, and create well-paying jobs. We may be based in different countries and face a variety of regulatory regimes, but we are all part of one world, one industry, and one team in advancing the electronics industry. PCB References 1. IPC Global Policy Framework 2. IMPACT Washington D.C. 2017 John Mitchell is president and CEO of IPC—Association Connecting Electronics Industries. To read past columns, or to contact Mitchell, click here. The technological complexities inherent in developing perceptions for machines, as well as the verification and validation of these tools, have been eased to a large extent by the advancements of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. These developments will open a plethora of opportunities for AI in smart applications that can make critical decisions autonomously and accurately, without human intervention. "With brain-computer interface (BCI), AI can power future machines to understand human thoughts and emotions, even without physical or vocal communication," noted Frost & Sullivan TechVision Senior Research Analyst Debarun Guha Thakurta. "Instead of simply mimicking the human brain structurally, AI will be able to impart human- like intelligence to machines." Artificial Intelligence (AI) - R&D and Applications Roadmap is part of the TechVision (Information & Communication) Growth Partnership Service program. Leveraging convergent ideas with technologies, AI can open new horizons in groundbreaking applications. Moving beyond syntactical understanding of human words, future applications will understand the semantics hidden in human language, and observe, understand, and detect objects accurately in their surroundings, making them more responsive. Additionally, the study explores the roadblocks to technology implementation. AI has complex hardware and software infrastructural requirements, as the intelligent algorithms require exceptional processing capabilities to process large data sets in real time. Innovators, with incremental technology evolution, are successfully meeting these needs. Advances in AI will Help Machines Understand Human Thoughts