We are building a community, to advance the state-of-the-art in lab automation, and improve the quality of the results...

Laboratory automation has become a cooperative process between scientists and those specializing in the implementation of automation systems.  This includes scientists, information technology specialists, vendors, developers, robotics’ specialist, etc.  As an organization, the membership work of the ILA is to bring these people together so that they can understand each others perspectives, how to get work done, discuss products & their application, and develop the tools (education, methodologies, etc.) needed to turn lab automation into a successful pursuit.  To that end, we believe:

• that those working in the field need to form a community to develop and improve the practice of applying automation and information/computing technologies to lab and scientific work. 
• In addition we see the establishment of Laboratory Automation Engineering as a field of work, study, and research, as a necessary goal.

What will members get out of it?

This is a bit of a long view as the organization is in its early stages:

• Access to an organization that will promote the development of open standards for informatics communication, instrument control, and instrument data storage/transfer
• Forums for the discussion of product capabilities/needs, methods and strategies of implementing automation systems for different applications,
• Access to, and the ability to contribute to a developing knowledge base
• Education in lab automation, including the management of Continuing Education Credits
• Help in professional advancement
• User case studies – what works, what doesn’t, if they had to do it again what would be different
• A mechanism for communications – ideally there would be provision for reviewed papers, opinion, and vendor contributions.  The reviewed papers would have the typical structure plus a “what did we learn from this / if I had to do it again” section.  This is necessary to help people learn and develop effective practices.
• Discounts on ILA courses, webinars, meetings, access to additional members only material

All of this will take time to develop, it isn’t going to happen on day one, so joining is a bit of an act of faith, but if we pull together, we change the way lab automation is done for the better.  Tell us what you need.