The Federation is governed by a General Assembly, which meets once a year and consists of one representative from each Member organisation, The General Assembly decides on all important matters, such as general policy, the program of activities, admissions, elections and budget. The day-to-day work of IFIP is directed by the Executive Board : President, Vice-presidents, Secretary and Treasurer, who are elected by the General Assembly.

The Council (Executive Board and up to eight Trustees elected from the General Assembly), meets twice a year and takes decisions which become necessary between General Assembly meetings.

Aims and Scopes of the Technical Committees and Working Groups

There are Aims shared by all or most Committees which are not subject specific.

They are as follows :

1. To establish and maintain liaison with national and international organisations with allied interests and to foster co-operative action, collaborative research and information exchange.

2. To identify subjects and priorities for research, to stimulate theoretical work on fundamental issues and to foster fundamental research which will underpin future development.

3. To provide a forum for professionals with a view to promoting the study, collection, exchange and dissemination of ideas, information and research findings and thereby to promote the state of the art.

4. To seek and use the most effective ways of disseminating information about our work including the organisation of conferences, workshops and symposia and the timely production of relevant publications.

5. To have special regard for the needs of developing countries and to seek practicable ways of working with them.

6. To encourage communication and to promote interaction between users, practitioners and researchers.

7. To foster interdisciplinary work and, in particular, to collaborate with other Technical Committees and Working Groups.