<P> A Special Interest Group (SIG) is a community within a larger organization with a shared interest in advancing a specific area of knowledge, learning or technology where members cooperate to affect or to produce solutions within their particular field, and may communicate, meet, and organize conferences . The term was used in 1961 by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), an academic and professional computer society . SIG was later popularized on CompuServe, an early online service provider, where SIGs were a section of the service devoted to particular interests . </P> <P> The ACM includes many SIGs, some starting as smaller "Special Interest Committees" (SICs) and formed the first group in 1961 . ACM supports further subdivision within SIGs for more impromptu informal discussion groups at conferences which are called Birds of a Feather (BoF). </P>

What is the primary purpose of special interest groups