The development of NeSSI has been a collaborative effort between industrial end-users, manufacturers who supply the industries, and academic researchers working in the area of process analytics. CPAC continues as the focal point for NeSSI development, and sponsor of the NeSSI steering team. CPAC provides a neutral umbrella under which interested companies have been able to meet, discuss needs and issues, and make progress towards defining the future of industrial sampling and analyzer systems. The NeSSI name is trademarked by the University of Washington to ensure that it remains freely associated with the open nature of the initiative anyone can use the name NeSSI to refer to products or services that are consistent with the specifications and guidelines of NeSSI as long as they refrain from exclusively tying the name to a proprietary product or service.