Born in 1872 in Groningen, Netherlands, Johan Huizinga grew up as the son of a professor of physiology. He went on to study Dutch literature, geography, history, as well as Sanskrit at the University of Groningen in 1891. He also studied abroad in Leipzig, Germany, before graduating with a PhD in 1897. Afterwards, he returned to the Netherlands to become a history teacher in Haarlem, then, from 1903 he lectured on Indian literature at the University of Amsterdam. From 1905 until 1915 he was professor of history at Groningen and in 1915 he became professor of history at Leiden, Netherlands, a post that he held until 1942. In response to his opposition to Nazism, he was interned by German occupation forces and lived under open arrest near Arnhem until his death in 1945.

A public intellectual, Huizinga was a member of the International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation (ICIC) from 1936 until 1939.

Taha Hussein was an Egyptian writer, nicknamed the “Dean of Arabic Literature.” He was born in Maghāghah, Egypt, in 1889. Coming from a lower middle-class family, he became blind at the age of three owing to maltreatment by an unskilled practitioner. This dramatic incident and its consequence marked his life and influenced his work. For instance, he chose an Egyptian peasant as the main character of one of his novels (Du'â' al-Karawân, Curlew's Prayers, 1934), and his Al-mu‘azzabūn fi-l ardh (The Tortured of Modern Conscience, 1949) deals with the life of the lowly.

Hussein learnt the Koran by heart and became a Hafiz. At the age of thirteen he quit his home town to study in Cairo, first at the religious Al-Azhar University then at Cairo University founded by King Fuad I in 1908. In 1914 he received a public scholarship to study in France. He passed his examinations at Montpellier, where he learned French, Greek and Latin. Afterwards he studied at the Sorbonne and graduated in 1919 with a thesis on the social philosophy of Ibn Khaldoun. Upon his return to Egypt he was appointed professor at the University of Cairo.

In 1927 he published his autobiography, translated as An Egyptian Childhood in 1932. In 1931 he was elected Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Letters at Cairo University. Hussein was also founding Rector of the University of Alexandria. Between 1950 and 1952, he served as Education Minister and introduced free primary education as well as general reform of the education system. Afterwards, he returned to his literary and journalistic career and became President of the Academy of Arab language. He died in Cairo in 1973.

His commitment to education was also reflected in Hussein’s commitment to the Organisation of Intellectual Cooperation (OIC) of the League of Nations (LN). He played a vital role in the formation of the Egyptian Committee on Intellectual Cooperation which was founded in June 1937. He participated at the second general conference of national committees, held in Geneva in July 1937, where he presented a report on intellectual cooperation in the Arab world. He also contributed to the activities of the International Conference on Higher Education, organised by the IIIC in July 1937. In his capacity as a writer he also took part in the interviews organised by the Permanent Committee on Arts and Letters, published as “Le Destin prochain des lettres” (1938), in which he described the situation of literary men in the Orient, particularly in Egypt. Hussein was elected a member of the ICIC in 1939.

Julian Huxley, a British national, was born in 1887. He was a zoologist but also philosopher, educator and writer. He played a leading part in the creation of UNESCO. The pamphlet he published on taking up office, "UNESCO. Its purpose and Its philosophy", aroused impassioned but constructive controversy at the time. For almost twenty years (1950-1969) he was Vice-President of the International Commission for the History of the Scientific and Cultural Development of Mankind, and was particularly active in establishing a number of major non-governmental organizations. He died in 1975.

In 1925, the IIIC founded a “Section juridique,” Legal Affairs Section, which was charged with studying legal matters arising from the Institute’s relations with associations and other international organizations, as well as issues regarding copyright and intellectual property in the fields of the sciences, arts and literature. The Section also dealt with legal questions relating to the administration and operations of the Institute and assisted other sections on legal matters. The Section worked in cooperation with the United International Bureaux for the Protection of Intellectual Property (Berne) and the International Labour Organization, as well as other international organizations such as the International Academy of Comparative Law at The Hague.

The Department of Administration and Finances oversaw the organization's administration activities linked to human resources as well as its financial activities, including the offices of the Comptroller and the Treasury. The Department was also responsible for overseeing the general services of the Organization. The Department existed since the beginning of the organization until its liquidation (1961 to 1988). For most of its existence, Corrado Ferantelli was its Director.

The Africa Department was created as part of a general reorganization in 1986 when the Cooperation Department was dissolved into three regional departments. The Africa Department inherited the Cooperation Department's activities for the francophone area of sub-Saharan Africa. The Department also inherited responsibility for coordination of activities with the regional centre CRIBI in Dakar, Senegal. This work was formerly carried out by the External Relations service under the direct authority of the Director General of the IBI. The Africa Department also had responsibility for coordination with the Regional Centres for Central Africa (Kinshasa) and Anglophone Africa (Lagos) when they were opened.

The Arab Region Department was created in 1986 as part of a general reorganization of the Cooperation Department. The Arab Region Department inherited responsibility for cooperation activities in the geographic zone of the Maghreb and the Middle East. It also inherited responsibility for coordinating activities with the Regional Centre in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This work was formerly carried out by the External Relations service under the direct authority of the Director-General.

The Cabinet of the Director-General most notably had responsibility for relations with member and non-member states, as well as relations with governmental and non-governmental organizations that may or may not have had cooperation agreements with the IBI.

Dating at least from 1982, Mohsen Boudegga was the Director of the Cabinet.

The Cooperation Department was responsible for technical assistance to member states through missions and joint programs of action. The Department coordinated and managed the organizational and financial aspects of human resources-based technical assistance projects aimed at retraining personnel in the field of informatics through grants, scholarships, internships or formal trainings. In addition to this, the Department coordinated the work of the IBI's regional centres.

The Department of Cooperation succeeded the former Department of Operations. Fernando Piera Gomez was chief of both units for most of their existence. Among a larger restructuring of the Secretariat in efforts to decentralize the work of the IBI, the Department of Cooperation was dissolved in 1986. It was replaced by three departments that carried on its former activities in three geographic areas: the Latin America Department, the Africa Department, and the Arab Region Department.

The Department of Pilot Projects was succeeded by the Projects Department. Carlos Piattini continued as Director of this Department.

The Department of Technology was responsible for coordinating information technology activities at IBI headquarters. It included a microelectrics labratory which was charged with developing state-of-the-art technologies to be used by developing countries. Enrique Melrose directed the Department. He was at the origin of various projects, most notably IBINET, a data transfer network using satellite systems, which was was in use at the time.

The Executive Council was one of the governing bodies of the IBI. It was composed of representatives of member states elected by the Assembly General. The Council met every six months. It was responsible for the execution of the programme (financial and operational aspects) as set out by the General Assembly.

Particularly in the 1980s, the Executive Council established different consultative committees to advise on specific matters, including: the Consultative Programme and Budget Committee, the Consultative Scientific Committee, and a Reflection Committee to consider the present and future prospects of the IBI.

The Executive Council held 57 ordinary sessions and 4 extraordinary sessions.

The General Assembly was the principal governing body of the Intergovernmental Bureau for Informatics (IBI). The Assembly met every two years at IBI headquarters in Rome. It was composed of representatives of the State Members to the IBI and an observer from UNESCO. At each session, the Assembly determined the programme activities and budget for the Bureau for the next two years. The Assembly appointed the Director-General and elected members of the Executive Council.

The General Assembly met for 13 ordinary sessions and 6 extraordinary sessions over the course of its history. The first session was held at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, from 30 April to 2 May 1962. The last meeting was an extraordinary session held 30 November 1988 to set out the liquidation of the Organization.

The official languages of the General Assembly were French and English up until the 4th Assembly General (Rome, 3-4 April 1967) where Spanish was established as the third working language of the IBI.

Throughout its existence, the General Assembly created different ad hoc commissions and independent committees in order to advance the working methods and operations of the Organization. The Committee for the Revision of the Convention of the IBI and the Liquidation Committee are two examples.

At the 10th General Assembly, the Committee for the revision of the Convention and statues of the IBI was established. The Director-General first convoked a meeting of the Committee in July 1981. The Committee, also known as REVCO, had the status of an ad hoc commission and was composed of representatives of member states and a representative from UNESCO. REVCO was convoked periodically during the 1980s when questions relating to the Convention arose.

The Information Department was one of the two units (along with the Department of Administration and Finances) that provided supporting services for the operational and governance units of the IBI. The origin of the Department can likely be traced to the Publications section which operated in the 1960s. Its activities principally consisted of the production of official publications such as: General Assembly documents, Executive Council documents, reports, studies, the journal Agora, the IBIPRESS, and the IBI Newsletter. In addition to this, the Department also was responsible for production of audiovisual material and for operating the IBI's Documentation Centre.

The International Institute for the Development of Informatics (IBIDI) was created based on a resolution made in the 10th session of the IBI General Assembly, held in Rome from 21-25 June 1982. Following the signature of agreements between the IBI and the Italian government, the IBIDI was established in the Centre for Studies and Advanced Technology Applications (Centro studi ed applicazioni in technologie avanzate - CSATA) in the Techopolis complex in Valenzano (Bari), Italy. It began operations in 1985.

The IBIDI sought to train professionals in informatics so that they could occupy key decision-making posts in their country. The aim was to prepare professionals to anticipate technological evolution and to facilitate knowledge transfer between IBI member countries. The institute also undertook research programs in order to diseminate new technologies as information management tools for the economic, technical and social fields.

The Latin America Department was created after a reorganization of the Cooperation Department in 1986. The Latin American Department inherited the responsibilities of the Cooperation Department for the geographic zone of South America and the Caribbean. It also inherited responsibility for coordination activities with the Regional Centre in Mexico (CREALC) which were formerly carried out by the External Relations service.

The office of the Legal Advisor was responsible for questions requiring legal expertise. It was also the service responsible for keeping all legal agreements with state members and non-members, such as, for example, cooperation agreements. Thomas Ennisson was one of the heads of this service over time.

The Liquidation Committee was created by Resolution R.E/02 of the 5th Extraordinary Session of the General Assembly, held in Rome, 27-29 April 1988. The Resolution called for a stop to all IBI activities starting from 29 April 1988 and for the eventual dissolution of the Organization. The Liquidation Committee was composed of representatives of five member states of the IBI (Italy, Bolivia, Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar and Tunisia). The Committee met for the first time during the 5th Extraordinary Session. It carried out its work until November 1988 when, according to its mandate, it convoked the 6th Extraordinary Session of the General Assembly of IBI from 28-29 November 1988 to confirm the complete liquidation of the Organization.

The Management Committee was created by a decision of the IBI Executive Council at its 4th Extraordinary Session in February 1987. Considering the recent resignation of the Director-General, the Council created the Management Committee to supervise the activities of the organization in his place. In addition to this, the Committee was charged with making recommendations for the reform of the management system in IBI. The Management Committee met five times over the course of 1987. Its mandate ended at the next session of the General Assembly when the acting interim Director-General was named.

One of the principal functions of the Department of Policies was to organize IBI’s major meetings on informatics policies and to participate in similar external activities. For example, the Department was particularly involved in the organization of: conferences on Transborder Data Flows; the SPINDE conference; and, IBI collaboration with the Cali and Yamoussoukro groups. In conjuction with the Director-general, the Department defined the policy vision or 'Doctrine' for the Organization. In keeping with this task, it carried out policy development activities through these meetings as well as through collaborations with other interested external actors.

The Department of Projects coordinated technology transfer projects between institutions wishing to make a contribution of expert technical knowledge to developing countries. The aim was to create local autonomous institutions. The Department was directed by Carlos Piattini who was behind projects related to juridical information technology, the arabization of information technology, a presidential dashboard or interface system, and different administrative databases.

The Secretariat of the Director-General was the secretarial pool, directed by a Chief Secretary, charged with the registration of the correspondence of the organization (incoming and outgoing mail).

The Technical Advisory Board analyzed the programme activities of the IBI and ensured for appropriate coordination with other bodies and organizations.

The Intergovernmental Bureau of Informatics was created, with the name International Computation Center, under the auspices of the United Nations and UNESCO by an international Convention signed on December 6, 1951 in Paris. The Resolutions concerning the establishment of this body were taken by the United Nations and UNESCO in 1946, 1948, 1950 and 1951. The International Computation Center was transformed in three stages (1969-70: reorganization, 1971-72: consolidation, and from 1978 on expansion). into the IBI in order to react to the technological evolution in the field.
The IBI had 38 member states which were members either of the United Nations, or of UNESCO, or of one of the other Specialized Agencies of the United Nations.
At its sixth extraordinary session, held in Rome on 28 and 29 November 1988, the General Assembly, by resolution R.6E/09 decided that IBI would cease to exist as from 30 November.
Dissolution had been made inevitable due to a series of difficulties encountered by IBI with regard to both its programme activities and its own organizational management and administration. These difficulties led to the successive withdrawal of several Member States from 1985 onwards, in particular the three main contributors (France, Spain and Italy) which deprived IBI of all its funding. Lacking resources, and in the throes of an unprecedented administrative crisis, with a temporary Board of Management acting as a Directorate, IBI was dissolved after 26 years spent in promoting co-operation in informatics.