On behalf of the International Council on Archives (ICA), it is my pleasure to invite you to the ICA Abu Dhabi Congress. The event will take place in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) from 9 to 13 October 2023. Held every four years since our inaugural session in 1950, the ICA Congress is now globally recognised as the most important forum for professionals, institutions and industries engaged with archives, records and information management.

The theme for ICA Congress Abu Dhabi is Enriching Knowledge Societies. This recognises the transformational power of access to reliable information in our modern world. It highlights the significant role played by archives in preserving and enabling access to government and institution records and to the multimedia documents embodying our societies. These archives constitute authoritative evidence of decisions and achievements and form part of our societal memory.

To broaden this conversation on access, good governance, evidence and memory, we should like to encourage YOU to join us at this international event. 21st century information challenges do not simply concern archives and records professionals, they concern us all. Hence, we are inviting not only the archives and records management community but also our colleagues from allied and other professions: librarians, museum professionals, data managers, journalists, and civil society.

Your participation at this event is vital to enable us to create innovative solutions, explore new ideas or discuss our findings in order to arrive at better working strategies. We would like to bring together different voices, perspectives and backgrounds. We want to celebrate the diversity of our community, which is why it is so important that you should all come to Abu Dhabi to promote a dialogue based on the principle of tolerance.

This dialogue is rooted in the belief that we can only enrich knowledge societies if we are open to challenging our ingrained beliefs and conceptual frameworks, if we are open to listening to professionals and practitioners from different working environments and to acknowledging that solidarity is fundamental to our global community.

We are one single diverse and vibrant international community that has already begun to discuss, reflect and challenge existing practices with a view to exploring and expanding the critical role played by archives in 21st century knowledge societies. We hope, therefore, that you will be able to join us and share your ideas in what will be a stimulating and successful forum.

For our sponsors and exhibitors, ICA Congress Abu Dhabi will provide a rare and valuable opportunity to engage with professional delegates and visitors from around the world. It will also be a chance to establish direct contacts with key players in the Middle East at a time of unprecedented interest in the fields of archival collection management, digital recordkeeping and public programming for education and the public.

In 2019, the Executive Board and the Forum of National Archivists had a taste of UAE hospitality. It was an extraordinary moment, marked by an atmosphere of friendship, pleasant venues, rich culture and, as a result, productive meetings. ICA Congress Abu Dhabi will be a memorable professional experience for us all.

I would therefore strongly encourage you to join us there to discover first-hand the insights and visions of leading international practitioners and opinion formers. Most importantly, we need you to play an active role in the highly diverse international professional network that is the ICA, to give added impetus to the worldwide archival cause and be part of current exchanges on knowledge societies that concern us all.

See you in Abu Dhabi,

Josée Kirps

President, International Council on Archives
Director of Luxembourg National Archives