The internet has opened up possibilities for discussion undreamt of in the past. The place first of Newsgroups and and more recently Blogs is important in the exchange of news and views.
The USENET newsgroups have had lots of topical messages on instrumentation, control and manufacturing issues.
BLOGS (Weblogs) are usually more personel but can contain lots of interesting information and ideas.

Mail Lists, Discussion Forums

Mail Lists for Control, SCADA, Calibration and other topics detailed. These must be subscribed to separatly as indicated. Some also have web pages which may indicate the types of topics debated. These are also discussion groups but instead of logging into the newsgroups the threads are sent directly to your mail box. They are generally moderated and more disciplined than the News Groups. They can be quite influential in forming opinion.