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Report from the President.

In the initial twenty to thirty years of the creation of our Society in 1960, international congresses have been a very effective means of communication and information gathering in addition to our official journal, Kidney International. This principle of our missions applies to any other professional societies. However, the era of rapid communication and transportation that has developed over the last ten to twenty years has made the world much smaller. In particular, the means of communications have become much easier and revolutionary, such as Internet. Such technological developments and advancements have impacted upon, to a major magnitude, the missions of all international societies. With the able guidance and cooperation of all members, and the expertise and wisdom of the Council and Executive members, our Society has grown to a truly international society among many medical disciplines, through many innovative mechanisms such as Fellowship, Visiting Scholars Program, Presidential Educational Funds, Fellows' Travel Grants, and the Library Enhancement Program. More recently, special Commissions have been created to meet the specific needs of our membership. They include the Commission for Acute Renal Failure, Commission for Global Advancement of Nephrology (COMGAN), Commission for Informatics, Commission for History of Nephrology, and Clinical Trial Commission. In addition, Joint Membership and the Renal Sister Center Program have been introduced to further enhance the Society's mission to reach out to economically more handicapped countries and regions throughout the world. These activities of our Society have been summarized in an article by Weening et al entitled "Toward global advancement of medicine: The International Society of Nephrology experience" (Kidney Int 54:1017–1021, 1998). We are proud to be the first in the world to become a truly international society. Our programs should become the model for other societies to better serve the people of the world, be it the professionals, the patients, or the public.