Over five years have passed by since the first meeting of the Working Group (WG) 41 dealing with Instrumental Odour Monitoring Systems (IOMS). WG41 is under the umbrella of the Technical Committee 264 on Air Quality of the CEN. In these over 5 years, the group have met 20 times to try to get a draft of a text to be approved in the time frame available for CEN Standards, but WG41 could not deliver that draft. This means that there will not be a European standard on IOMS in the near future.

   CEN has decided to start over the process with WG41. After an initial extension given in 2019, the text could not be finalized, so now it is time to wrap up and start over again. This means that there will be no standard on IOMS in the near future. The new work item will be proposed by the end of the year in order to be approved during the next TC meeting (May 2022). Later it will be circulated and voted from all countries, which takes 6 to 8 months, so, according to some experts asked, the work will not start before February/March 2023.

   The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has launched a new open call for experts to participate in several new standards related to Olfaction Devices. The organization is asking for volunteers to contribute to three new standards that will have a strong focus on specific applications of these devices.

      The IEEE is looking for volunteers for several roles. Volunteers with experience in IEEE standards development can join a sponsoring entity’s Standards Committee (IEEE Sensors Council and/or IEEE Industrial Electronics Society) which requires a commitment of about one hour per month (yearly appointments).