An Industry and Government Perspective on Challenges and Open Problems in Signal Processing [SP Forum]

The majority of ICASSP presentations are given by professors and students. Perhaps resulting from its strategic location near a great deal of high-technology activity, the strong economy [the result of a focus on machine learning (ML) and in employment therein] and because of the energetic outreach by the organizing committee, ICASSP 2018 had an especially strong industry presence, both in attendance and sponsorship. Calgary, a cosmopolitan city in the Canadian province of Alberta, was the conference's site and provided the perfect opportunity for a panel focused on industry feedback. What spurs the interests of both industry and government, the entities who are actually making the products and know the competition? How can academia participate (and maybe even help)?