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12 The PCB Magazine • August 2014 by Marc Carter IPc—assocIatIon connectIng electronIcs IndustrIes Printed Electronics 2014: World Standardization Effort Growing Opportunities for Collaboration f e a t u r e Abstract Although technically not a new technology, printed electronics is a technology with a grow- ing number of real commercial applications and very broad potential applications. It is the as- sessment of IPC that printed electronics is at the stage of development where widely accepted international standards, based on consensus by experts from many viewpoints and many coun- tries, could aid global adoption of this technol- ogy as an additional tool widely available for the fabrication of electronic apparatus. At the same time, there are factors that could drive the generation of multiple competing or conflicting printed electronics standards, with unnecessary duplication of effort. Some of the forces behind this possibility (geographical spe- cialization, national interests, poorly developed cooperation between standards bodies, etc.) are discussed. Some means of avoiding this unde- sirable outcome are suggested. Current and near-future efforts toward co- operative standardization, technology devel- opment, and communication are discussed, as well as a status report on the major efforts in progress. Partnerships that currently exist and partnerships under discussion are presented. Over the next five years, we envision a num- ber of potential obstacles to both effective and efficient collaborative printed electronics stan- dards development, and to the broader avail- ability of printed electronics as a viable option in electronic fabrication. In this article, we will communicate those areas of concern, and sug- gest some possible means to avoid them. We predict the general success of printed electronics, if success is defined as the wide availability and acceptance of printed electron- ics technology as one of many possible tools