Towards Sustainable Development – the Role of Photonics-based Instrumentation and Measurement
Citation: “For contributions to photonics-based optical frequency and wavelength domain instrumentation and measurement.”
Abstract: The theme of the I2MTC 2024 conference is ‘Instrumentation and Measurement for a Sustainable Future’. A sustainable future is where society can meet its current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The right choices have to be made today to secure a liveable tomorrow. In 2015 the United Nations adopted the ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ to be actioned through 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These addressed reducing the adverse impact of human activity on the planet’s complex natural systems, and also identified topics such as improving health and education, reducing inequalities and creating opportunities as being part of sustainable development. Science, engineering, technology and innovation have already played a significant role in contributing towards the SDGs, and will continue to do so. For me, this has triggered two questions: ‘how have instrumentation and measurement technologies contributed towards attainment of the SDGs?’, and ‘which of the SDG themes have benefitted directly and explicitly from I&M, and which have benefitted indirectly or less explicitly?’. My colleagues and I set out to seek answers to these questions, with the extra condition that we would concentrate only on photonics-based I&M, which includes optics and imaging-based approaches. I will share our findings in the talk, with an emphasis on photonics so that the talk aligns with the citation of the 2024 IEEE Joseph F Keithley Award.