The IIC was formed in 1969 at Ditchley Park in the UK. The underlying objective was to provide a non-partisan organisation to enable international debate of all kinds on the increasingly complex world of communications. The IIC’s mission is to provide a global framework for dialogue and to promote access to communications for all peoples of the world. It is an international, interdisciplinary, independent, not-for-profit membership organisation and a registered charity. Its funding comes from subscriptions, donations and projects. It is governed by an international Board of Directors and advised by a select number of Trustees.

The Institute covers virtually all aspects of the converging worlds of telecommunications and broadcast and electronic media and endeavours to add to the knowledge of practitioners, commentators and policy formulators. Its membership is derived from some 70 countries and includes a small number of individual members. Corporate members include international telecommunications companies as well as regulatory bodies, broadcasters and electronic media companies.

Its principal activities consist of:

• The International Regulators Forum which meets in closed session over the two days prior to the Institute’s Annual Conference. This annual meeting provides vital insights into evolving regulatory frameworks and the opportunity for regulators from around the globe to learn from and exchange information and experiences with each other in a confidential environment.

• The Annual Conference which is held in different locations around the world. An essential ingredient of this event is active debate and impartiality. The programme discusses leading edge communications policy issues and sector developments, with high-level speakers addressing a senior audience of business decision-takers and regulatory and government policymakers.

• Telecommunications and Media Forum meetings at which leading communications organisations come together to dissect key market developments and regulatory policy trends. The meetings are organised 3-4 times a year in different geographic locations and are designed to be highly interactive.

• Intermedia, a journal which analyses a wide range of communications issues and which has an international readership.

• National chapter events which are organised locally for the benefit of IIC members and their wider national networks.