The CoP is a standing committee of the Executive Committee of the International Mathematical Union. CoP’s mandate is:

To advise the IMU on aspects of its operations related to information and communication, including technical, legal and financial implications, and keep it informed of new developments.

To review the development of electronic information, communication, publication, instruction, and archiving so as to keep the IMU abreast of current and emerging issues.

To advise the IMU about potential opportunities to endorse standards and articulate best practice recommendations on issues related to the field, as well as potential opportunities to foster the growth and development of electronic infrastructure.

The founding of CoP (CEIC)

The advent of electronic publishing and the World Wide Web in the 1990s have transformed mathematical communication in at least as great a way as the introduction of printing and the creation of academic journals. This transformation affects all disciplines, and many of the resulting commercial pressures are beyond the control of mathematicians.

Nevertheless mathematics, by its intrinsic nature and world-wide scope, had to develop a particular approach to this new situation from the very beginning. Changes have occurred very rapidly, and some of the habits of mathematicians — such as citation conventions, ways of building reputation, promotion and working conditions — are still evolving in response to continuing changes.

1998-closing-ceremony-CEIC-creation — Discussion on the founding of CEIC at the GA in Dresden, August 1998 (f.l.t.r.: Calkin, John Ewing, Martin Grötschel, David Mumford, Joachim Heinze, Carol Hutchins, Peter Michor, Jacob Palis)

Building on the enabling resolution passed by the General Assembly in Dresden on August 16, 1998, the Executive Committee of the International Mathematical Union established a Committee on Electronic Information and Communication of the International Mathematical Union.

As acting IMU president, David Mumford publicly announced the creation of CEIC at the closing ceremony of ICM 1998 in Berlin. The minutes of this ceremony are the founding documents of CEIC, we quote them here (see also the picture): `In the last decade, the internet has been transforming our communication and commerce. [...] Communication on hand-written and printed paper, distribution via postal mail and libraries is a system which has been stable for many centuries. We cannot foresee clearly the new system which is evolving except that it will involve electronic media and it will radically alter the economics of communication. This transformation will certainly be global and will affect mathematical research on all continents.'

In March 2025, CEIC was renamed the Committee on Publishing (CoP) (Circular Letter 3/2025).