The International Commission for Acoustics, ICA, was established in 1998. It originally started in 1951 as a subcommittee to the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. It acts It acts as Affiliated Commission 3 (AC3) of IUPAP.
ICA is the primary organization for the national and affiliated organizations that focus on the various aspects of acoustics. Today, ICA comprises 50 National societies and affiliated organizations around the world and promotes international development and collaboration in all fields of acoustics including research, development, education, and standardization.
In order to raise the awareness of the community on the importance of sound for our lives, the ICA decided to organize in 2020, a series of events to comprise the INTERNATIONAL YEAR of SOUND 2020. Due to COVID-19 restrictions which forced organizers of events associated with the International Year of Sound 2020 to cancel, postpone or reschedule these events, the ICA made a decision in March 2020 that the International Year of Sound would become a 2 year celebration. For a full report on the extension, please see sound2020.org/news/coronavirus. This allows for postponed events as well as new events and activities to be included. The IYS page sound2020.org has the full listing of the creative events and resources developed during the time of restrictions and those planned for 2021 plus the full details of the competition at the Student Competition tab.
Mission/Mandate
The International Commission for Acoustics’ purposes are to promote international development and collaboration in all fields of acoustics including research, development, education, and standardisation.
The means for the Commission to fulfill its mission are:
- to maintain close contacts with national and regional acoustical societies and associations as well as other relevant professional organisations and seek consensus in matters of mutual interest; ii to provide an information service on societies, congresses, symposia, etc., research and education organisations in the field of acoustics; iii to take a pro- active role in co-ordinating the main international meetings within acoustics;
- to convene the International Congresses on Acoustics in accordance with the Commission’s guidelines and to act as the International Advisory Committee for these congresses;
- to sponsor or co-sponsor other topical and special international conferences normally in close cooperation with national and/or regional organisations and to give financial support (grants or guarantees), as a grant to organising committees for such meetings or as a travel grant to participants.
Website for the International Commission for Acoustics, ICA.
