Optical sensing in context: a twenty-five year retrospective

The author has reviewed the Proceedings archive, and has selected a number enduring themes from the nearly 750 papers submitted across twenty-four years. The author believes these themes serve as important touchstones for the successful development of future capabilities to address CBRNE challenges, whilst admitting a personal bias towards spectroscopic methods for chemical sensing and imaging. Taking a historical perspective reveals impressive developments in foundational and underpinning aspects, as well as novel sensing techniques and their applications; it also provides context to the issues identified, from which lesson can be learned. The author also shares their personal view on the value of the Conference to the community of practice that it brings together.