The Structure of ICLP: Functions, Organization and Administration

The following structure is established in order to continue the good traditions of ICLP and to secure the future development.

1. The International Conference on Lightning Protection (ICLP):

1.1. ICLP is an organization with the aims:

1. 1. to stimulate and support research concerning lightning phenomena and effects of lightning as well as methods of protection against them;
   2. to further the exchange of results and experiences among scientists and professionals working within the field by establishing international fora, e.g. in the form of biannual conferences;
   3. to ensure the effective transfer of new and reliable knowledge from lightning research into practice for the benefit of the society.

1.2. The individual conferences are organized by a Local Organization Committee according to regulations given by the Scientific Committee of ICLP and  according to the regulations presented in the Annex to the STATUTE.

2. Administrative bodies of ICLP:

2.1. Scientific and Steering Committee (SC);
2.2. Executive Board (EB) of SC;
2.3. Local Organizing Committees (OC);
2.4. Referee Groups (RG).

3. Scientific and Steering Committee (SC) of ICLP:

3.1. Structure and set-up of SC

1. 1. SC consists of a maximum of 15 persons (excluding the Executive Board), appointed among scientists active within research of lightning, lightning protection and related fields and with administrative responsibilities within an organization or institution.
   2. The period of service of the SC member is 6 years with the option of re-election for a maximum of 2 additional periods of 6 years.
   3. At the SC meeting during each of the biannual ICLP Conferences, t he current SC members elect new members between the proposed candidates and old SC members proposed for the election (cf. p. 3.1.4).
      SC cannot have more than one member from any country at a time. In special cases, however, when it is beneficial to ICLP, one additional member from a given nation may be elected provided that consensus can be reached in the current SC.
   4. Justified proposals for new candidates (with written motivations and CVs for the proposed candidates), and for old SC-members suggested for re-election, may be submitted by external parties to the SC prior to the SC meeting, and during the SC meeting by any member of the SC.
   5. The membership of SC comes to an end by resignation or when the SC member retires from his professional position, specified in clause 3.1.1, taking effect after the next conference following the retirement.
   6. SC may appoint honorary members to SC for outstanding service to ICLP. The honorary members have no vote in SC matters.
   7. All members of ICLP’s Scientific Committee, now and in the future, are obliged to agree in the scope and goal of ICLP and are committed actively to work for their fulfilments in practice and they are not engaged in supporting other protection devices and methods not fully accepted by scientific community.

3.2. Responsibility of SC

1. 1. Selection of topics for ICLP conferences;
   2. Selection of conference site for the individual ICLP;
   3. Definition of the framework for the arrangements of the individual conferences and definition of the procedure for the execution of the conferences, sessions, presentations, publications etc.;
   4. Approval of the chairman and members of the Organizing Committee (OC) for the next ICLP conference, estimation and/or approval of the preliminary conference budged and final conference accounts;
   5. Selection or approval of the chairman and vice-chairman (moderator) of the RG (cf. section 6);
   6. Selection of contributions to the individual ICLP conferences on the basis of synopses submitted by potential authors. (Approval of the final reports for printing and presentation cf. RG section 6).
   7. Liasoning with other professional bodies.
   8. Formulation and execution of policies to ensure the future continuity and progressive development of the ICLP.

4. Executive Board (EB) of ICLP:

4.1. EB of ICLP consists of a president, a vice president, a scientific secretary and a secretary;

4.2. The president, vice president and scientific secretary are elected by and among the SC members for a period of 4 years with the option of re-election for a maximum of 2 additional periods of 4 years. The president and vice president function at the same time as chairman and vice chairman of SC.

4.3. The secretary of SC is appointed by the president for the same period to support the president in his tasks;

NOTE: As the secretary should support the president in his duties, the president may select the secretary from inside or outside ICLP in order to achieve the best possible team work.

4.4. Responsibilities of EB

1. 1. 1. Administration of current business;
      2. Organization of the meetings of SC;
      3. Preparation of the agenda for the individual SC meetings;
      4. Co-operation with SC to provide suggestions for the solution of problems in connection with current work as well as problems that may arise during and between individual meetings, and the supervision and conduction of the necessary work.
      5. Representation of SC and ICLP verbally and in writing.

5. Local Organizing Committee (OC) of the individual ICLP conference:

5.1. OC of an individual ICLP is proposed by representatives of a National Organization or a relevant Institution of the individual country willing to take the responsibility of organizing the individual ICLP conference. The final approval of the leading persons of OC (chairman and members of the organizing committee) is given by the SC.

5.2. Responsibilities of the OC

1. 1. 1. Preparation of the preliminary conference budget to be estimated and approved by SC;
      2. Arrangement and conduction of the conference within the framework established or approved by SC (cf. section 3.2 3 );
      3. Preparation of the accounts for the conference for submission to and approval by SC within 3 months after the end of the conference.
      4. Transfer of the SC-share of the conference fee within 6 months after the end of the individual conference (cf. section 7).

6. Referee Groups (RG) of the sessions of ICLP conferences:

6.1. The sessions of ICLP conferences are organized in Referee Groups dealing with topics defined by SC.

6.2. The Referee Group is headed by the session chairman and moderator for the individual topics.

6.3. Responsibilities of the Referee Groups (RG)

1. 1. 1. Referee and final approval for presentation and printing of the written reports, selected on the basis of the synopses submitted to SC;
      2. Preparation of a short description and evaluation of the individual reports to be submitted via the chairman to SC and the authors.
      3. Preparation of a Special Report for the session to stimulate and guide the discussion during the conference. The Special Report should be presented to SC, OC, the authors and preferably also to the participants prior to the conference. The Special Reports should be published on ICLPs homepage, and after the conference a short report concerning the results of the individual session should similarly be published on the homepage.

7. The budget of SC:

7.1. To make possible the activity of the Executive Board, the Organizing Committee sets aside a share of the fees from the individual ICLP conferences (for inst. a fixed percentage hereof or a fixed amount according to the budget). Within a period of 6 month after the end of a given conference, this sum is transferred to the president for his disposal.

7.2. The chairman of SC submits his financial report (budget for the coming period and accounts for the preceding period) to be approved by SC at the SC meeting during the individual ICLP conference.

Annex to the STATUTE of ICLP version 21.10.2005

Guidance and Rules for the arrangement of ICLP Conferences:

In addition to the requirements given in ICLP’s Statute, the present Guidance and Rules should make it possible to arrange conferences in different countries and still ensure that the individual conferences have similar structures.

General requirements:

According to the Statute the Executive Board (EB), Scientific Committee (SC) and especially the local Organizing Committees (OC) of ICLP are obliged to comply with the following requirements:

1. 1. 1. Prevent activities, advertisements, promotion and exhibitions of non-conventional Lightning Protection Systems that might be dangerous to be used, and Systems that the EB and SC has warned against, until the claimed properties have been agreed upon.
      2. The OC of successive ICLP conferences and meetings are obliged to eliminate any sponsorship from manufacturers and distributors of non-conventional and non-verified Lightning Protection Systems in order to prevent any indirect advertisement.
      3. The homepage of the individual conferences and its content should follow the recommendations and contain the policy and the statements given by the EB and SC and contain a link to the central homepage of ICLP.

Pre-Screening of Conference Papers:

Only scientific or technical papers of sufficient high standard should be accepted.
The local OC should screen the submitted proposal for papers and present the result and their distribution in the relevant sessions for discussion and approval at the appropriate SC meeting.
Full papers should be confidentially evaluated according to the Reviewer’s Form (see attachment) by members of Referee Groups and/or by additional independent reviewers.
Minimum three groups of papers should be distinguished and be rejected:

• • • Papers concerning non-conventional and non-verified air termination systems that does not contain critical discussions and analyses,
    • Papers concerning air termination systems with their efficiency assessed on the base of laboratory tests and without corresponding critical discussions and analyses, and
    • Papers concerning computer simulations without a thorough analysis of the effects and influences of the selection of models and parameters used.

The Choice of Conference Location, Facilities and Social Events:

The conferences should first and foremost focus on working sessions, where lightning professionals, scientists, engineers, manufacturers, individuals from the practical implementation of lightning protection and students meet to inspire each other and exchange knowledge. Therefore, the conference location and the facilities at the conference should be selected to stimulate these aims.

In order to keep the cost for participating in the conference within limits, especially for students and retired persons, the social activities and the comfort level of the conference location should be selected accordantly. In addition the social events should be arranged with the scope of stimulating the interaction between people and make the networking between individuals and group more efficient.

In addition the tourist activities should be kept within limits to facilitate an effective utilization of the conference period, especially when the conference duration is reduced to 4 days.

Pre- and post tours, however, are more than welcomed.

History