This chapter explains the role of the International DOI Foundation in the governance of the DOI System, how the International DOI Foundation is currently funded and how it is anticipated that this will change as the DOI achieves widespread deployment over the next few years. It has representative offices in Oxford, UK, Washington, DC and in Geneva, Switzerland. The IDF was founded in 1998. More than 40 organizations were members of the IDF in February 2001.
Membership is open to any organization, commercial or non-commercial.
The IDF has a Board of twelve Directors elected by its members. The Board is responsible for all aspects of management of the DOI, particularly policy formulation and standards maintenance. Members of the Board represent a wide cross section of organizations interested in the management of intellectual property in the network environment. The implementation of the DOI System adds value, but necessarily incurs some costs. The IDF itself is for the time being supported primarily by the payment of member's subscriptions.