i-ince

Rules & procedures

Part 2 of the I-INCE Rules for Operation
I-INCE TECHNICAL STUDY GROUPS
PDF version of Part 2

Article 1: ACTIVITIES OF I-INCE TECHNICAL STUDY GROUPS, TASK GROUPS, OR COMMITTEES

The studies to be undertaken by technical study groups and/or other technical committees or ad hoc task forces (as appointed by the I-INCE Board or recommended by the General Assembly) are focused on noise control engineering issues of international or global interest. While these issues may involve important policy or public dissemination matters, they must all have a significant technological content and be directly relevant to the mission of I-INCE.

The activities of a technical study group, committee or task group may include the following:

assessment of current or new technologies
development of noise control policy, guidelines, or implementation plans
organization of special sessions or workshops at INTER-NOISE Congresses or I-INCE-sponsored events
organization of I-INCE Symposia
development of special issues of Noise Control Engineering Journal
presentation of papers at INTER-NOISE Congresses

The short and long term studies of technical study groups must be disseminated on a timely basis and may result in the preparation of:

informal white papers or web based articles
technical articles or presentations
formal I-INCE report(s)that require approval via formal vote by the I-INCE membership
results of a benchmarking or round-robin studies
information to be disseminated in other forms

Article 2: PROPOSALS FOR NEW TECHNICAL STUDY GROUPS, TASK GROUPS, OR COMMITTEES

Proposals shall be prepared and forwarded to the I-INCE Vice President of Technical Activities who will submit them to the I-INCE Board for approval. Each proposal shall contain the following information:

The proposed title for the technical study group, task group, or committee
The name(s) of the proposer(s), along with a recommendation of suitable conveners or chairs and members representing the I-INCE community
The proposed scope and technical justification of the study, task, or committee
The proposed program and milestones (including intended publications) of the study, task or committee
The proposed dates for completion of milestones and duration of the study, task or committee
If available, an initial working draft for consideration by the technical study group, task group, or committee.

Article 3: RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE I-INCE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Technical study groups, task groups, or committees shall be established and dissolved by the Board of Directors who will inform the I-INCE General Assembly of actions taken. The Board shall:

Consider for approval the proposals submitted by the Vice President of Technical Activities for new technical study groups, committees or task groups. This includes an approval of the scope, and work program, as well priorities and schedule for the milestones. The I-INCE Board may request the I-INCE Member Societies to nominate technical experts to serve as members (or observers) of the technical study or task group.
Confirm the appointment of Conveners or Chairs of technical study groups, task groups, or committees.
Monitor the progress of all technical work and take appropriate action if there are significant delays in the completion of scheduled milestones. If a group extends its work beyond the allotted time, it must seek renewal by the Board on a timely basis.
Consider for approval, for submission to the General Assembly for approval via formal vote, a draft of an I-INCE report prepared by a technical study group, task group, or committee.
Dissolve a technical study group, task group, or committee upon completion of its assigned tasks or upon failure to meet its objectives.

Article 4: RESPONSIBILITIES OF A TECHNICAL STUDY GROUP, TASK GROUP OR COMMITTEE CHAIR OR CONVENER

Management of a technical study group, task group, or committee is the responsibility of the convener(s) or chairs who must perform the following tasks.

Manage the development of the technical study group, task group, or committee and the preparation of documents for publication.
Organize and chair meetings of the technical study group, task group, or committee. Submit timely progress reports, publication drafts and information of any significant problems affecting progress to the Vice President of Technical Activities in accordance with the agreed schedule of technical study group, task group, or committee activities.

Article 5: MEETINGS OF A TECHNICAL STUDY GROUP, TASK GROUP, OR COMMITTEE

Technical study group, task group, or committee meetings shall ideally be scheduled to occur immediately before, during, or after INTER-NOISE Congresses. Between meetings, all business will normally be accomplished by e-mail or postings on the I-INCE web site. The Vice President of Technical Activities shall be informed of such meetings and their agendas.

The technical study group, task group, or committee should begin its work as soon as possible after the proposed initiative is approved by the Board. The immediate objectives as work is begun are the following:

Obtain agreement on a precise wording of the scope to include the topics to be covered and those to be excluded.
Develop a plan of action with a tentative, but realistic, estimate of the time schedule for completion of major milestones.
Preparation of the voting draft of an I-INCE report should normally require no more than two years.

Article 6: VOTING PROCEDURES FOR APPROVAL OF FORMAL I-INCE REPORTS

A voting draft of an I-INCE report shall be submitted by the convener to the Vice President of Technical Activities in electronic form. (Note: Only formal I-INCE reports are subject to voting.) The Vice President may seek reviews by anonymous experts on the suitability of its contents before posting on the I-INCE website. (Secretariat: Note that technical articles or informal reports are not subject to any formal voting procedures.)

Two alternate methods for seeking votes of approval are possible. First, a formal voting draft may be posted on the I-INCE site, and voting shall then be via a secure link. A message shall be sent by the Secretariat to the Member Societies accordingly. The time limit for voting shall be about six weeks from the circulation date. Second, the ballot and draft may be circulated about six weeks before a meeting of the General Assembly at which the votes may be cast.

A vote to proceed with publication may be positive, negative with accompanying technical reasons for the negative vote, or abstention. Positive votes conditioned on the acceptance of substantive modifications to the text of the voting draft, as well as negative votes submitted without substantiating technical reasons, will not be accepted. A voting draft is approved for publication if a majority of the votes cast by the Member Societies is positive.

Article 9: I-INCE PUBLICATION OF FORMAL REPORTS

The VP of Technical Activities shall inform the I-INCE Board and the General Assembly of the voting results and action taken on I-INCE formal reports.

Before publication, the final version of a formal I-INCE report shall be assigned a reference number by the Secretariat. The reference number shall consist of the calendar year in which the document was approved for publication followed by a hyphen and an Arabic number assigned sequentially for that year, for example, "I-INCE Publication 2012-3."

NOTE: This revised Part 2 of the I-INCE Rules was approved by the I-INCE Board at its meeting on 2012 August 18 and the General Assembly at its meeting on 2012 August 19 in New York, New York, USA. This version replaces the I-INCE Rules Part 2 that was approved by the General Assembly at its meeting in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 1998 November 15. The most recent subsequent revision of Part 2 was approved by the General Assembly on 2017 August 27.