The INCF is established as the result of recommendations presented in the reports of the OECD Mega Science Forum Working Group on Biological Informatics (1999) and the OECD Global Science Forum Working Group on Neuroinformatics (2002). (http://www.incf.org/documents/incf-core-documents/Report_OECD_GSF_2002.pdf, http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/58/34/1946728.pdf)
The proposal to create the INCF, as well as a funding Programme in International Neuroinformatics (PIN), was endorsed by OECD science ministers in 2004. Sixteen countries (Australia, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States), as well as the European Commission, then elaborated the working documents that form the legal basis for the INCF and the PIN.
To date, ten countries (Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States) are members of the INCF. Membership is in preparation for several more countries.
