elcome to 2023 and this year’s edition of In Compliance Magazine’s Annual Reference Guide!

“Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…” This oft-quoted line was an essential part of the marketing campaign for the 1978 movie Jaws 2. That movie was the sequel to the 1975 blockbuster Jaws which ends with police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) killing the monster shark that has threatened the tiny New England beach town of Amity Island. In Jaws 2, a new shark threat emerges, endangering the community and forcing Brody to step up once again to save his family and the town.

For a world slowly emerging from the horrors of the Covid-19 pandemic over the previous two years, 2022 seemingly offered little space to “go back in the water.” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February has so far resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of lives and the displacement of millions of people. Closer to home, shootings in May at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York and at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas resulted in the violent deaths of more than 30 people. And the world mourned the loss of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in July, and the passing in September of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, England’s longest-ruling monarch.

Yet, despite these tragedies, we still chalked up some major successes in science and technology that are worth celebrating. For example, the renowned James Webb Space Telescope entered earth orbit in January, providing astronomers and scientists with spectacular images of deep space and previously undiscovered galaxies. Biotech and pharmaceutical firms are building on the success of the rapid development and deployment of Covid vaccines and are on the verge of introducing new vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), malaria, and other medical conditions. And tech companies are rapidly leveraging advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to improve both their products and their business models.

In their seminal book Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, authors (and brothers!) Chip Heath and Dan Heath talk about the importance of focusing on what they call “the bright spots,” when seeking to implement change. Instead of looking for things that need to be fixed, they recommend looking instead at what’s working and find ways to build on those successes. To me, there are fewer lessons that are more relevant or meaningful in our efforts to make progress in our constantly changing environment.

For all of us here at In Compliance Magazine, finding the bright spots is an essential part of what we do, that is, delivering accurate and comprehensive information about the ever-changing regulatory compliance landscape, and providing our readers with the information they need to successfully navigate their design challenges. This year’s edition of our Annual Reference Guide features 15 of the articles we published in 2022 that were most frequently read and referenced by our readers. By reprinting them here, we hope to share these “bright spots” with those who may have missed them and with others who are new to this challenging but exciting field.

In the meantime, our never-ending thanks to our readers, our editorial contributors, and our advertisers for your continued commitment to our publication. Knowing that we have your support gives us the best reason to keep moving forward!