How the IVI Foundation Operates

The IVI Foundation was incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation in the State of Delaware in March 2001. It is set up such that all its funding is used exclusively to achieve its not-for-profit objectives.

The consortium was founded to promote specifications for programming test instruments that simplify interchangeability, provide better performance, and reduce the cost of program development and maintenance.

IVI is an open consortium of users, systems integrators and instrument vendors. The instrument vendors take part as contributors and as funders: they contribute source code and engineering time to the development and maintenance of the IVI shared components and drivers, they finance the Foundation’s work through membership contributions, and they integrate the published components into their own products. The Foundation itself does not monetize that software: it charges no price for it, monetizes no other product or service through it, and requires no processing of personal data as a condition of use for purposes other than improving the security, compatibility or interoperability of the software. It publishes the IVI shared components and instrument drivers as free and open-source software (work in progress).

The IVI Foundation operates in accordance with its bylaws.

Technical Meetings

The IVI Foundation Technical Committee is responsible for the technical content of the IVI standards. Both member and non-member companies are invited to participate in the development of standards. Companies can send as many representatives as they want to meetings of the Technical Committee or its working groups. Member companies each get one vote on technical matters regardless of the number of representatives they send.

Most standards development is done in working groups that typically meet via teleconference every week or two in addition to the face-face meetings.

Board of Directors

Matters that do not directly relate to the development of the technical content of standards are the responsibility of the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors primarily meets at the face-face meetings however they may also meet by teleconference or take action by e-mail.

Operating Procedures

IVI’s day-to-day activities are governed by IVI specification 1.2, Operating Procedures, available on the Specifications page. This document describes IVI Foundation rules and practices for conducting business. All discussions and business conducted in any forum within the foundation conforms to these procedures.

Where procedures are not defined by the Operating Procedures document or the bylaws, the IVI Foundation uses Robert’s Rules of order (newly revised).