When I was preparing to lead Icsid during the 2005-2007 term, I had two wishes.  First, I wanted our members to get excited and involved in Icsid in a manner that would enable us to build the organisation to meet their needs. I also wanted a great team of innovative and committed design leaders on the Icsid Board to collaborate with me. My first wish came true early on, when Icsid received twenty-nine nominations for the nine available Board spots.  I hope that you will continue to stay as involved and continue to participate in this active manner as this term progresses.  My second wish came true on September 29th and 30th when members from around the world gathered to attended the General Assembly in the Danish capital and elected an outstanding group of design ambassadors to the Icsid Board.

As your new President, I am honoured by the trust that you have instilled in me, and I am pleased with the calibre of the board representatives you have elected to work for you. This is indeed an extraordinary group of people that I introduce to you: President-Elect Carlos Hinrichsen (Chile), Treasurer Robin Edman (Sweden), Dr. Mark Breitenberg (USA), Tony Chang (Taiwan, China), Jae-jin Shim (Korea), Lorraine Justice (Hong Kong, China), Giuliano Molineri (Italy), Dr. Darlie O Koshy (India), Judit Várhelyi (Hungary) and Adrienne Viljoen (South Africa). This Board represents eleven nations and four continents that will be true ambassadors of the design world Icsid represents.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to the former Board – and particularly to our Past President Luigi Ferrara – for the excellent and constructive co-operation in setting the foundation for us to build on.

In the last two years, Icsid has undergone some considerable changes.  This term, the new Board is prepared to take on the challenge of building on past successes to establish our mark as a reputable (INGO) International Non-Governmental Organisation. Together, we are ready to lead Icsid in a manner that has not been witnessed in our organisation’s 48-year history.

Emphasising customer service to meet the needs of our Members is a priority. This will be accomplished by increasingly communicating the association’s activities, giving members access to our plans and the opportunity to participate in our many projects. The Board met at the end of the General Assembly in Copenhagen and agreed to communicate our activities more regularly with our members to create an open and transparent communication channel.  

I hope that there will be a frequent exchange of ideas between our Board and our Members and I look forward to working with you during the next two years. As Icsid develops strategies to become a more meaningful and valued industry association, I look forward to hearing from you more frequently to facilitate our work to become the best we can to meet our industry needs.

Professor Dr. Peter Zec, Icsid President