The International Foot and Ankle Biomechanics Community (i-FAB) is a non profit making, collaborative global organisation launched in July 2007. It now has close to 700 members from 45 different countries.

i-FAB aims to support academic, health care and industry sectors to collaborative effectively to accelerate advances in our understanding of the foot

Foot

The foot is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of one or more segments or bones, generally including claws...

 and ankle. Central to these objectives is the notion of creating a global community

Global Community

The Global Community is a the fictional world government/state described in the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. The Global Community was established as the successor of the United Nations by Nicolae Carpathia, the series' main antagonist.At its territorial peak, the GC...

 in the field and the adoption emerging web technologies to forge an online community.

Objectives

• Providing information on the global activities related to foot and ankle biomechanics
• Connecting people working in the foot and ankle biomechanics
  Biomechanics
  Biomechanics is the application of mechanical principles to biological systems, such as humans, animals, plants, organs, and cells. Perhaps one of the best definitions was provided by Herbert Hatze in 1974: "Biomechanics is the study of the structure and function of biological systems by means of...
  
   domain regardless of location and discipline
• Facilitating debate on key issues for the community
• Creating coordinated community wide activities
• Developing a profile for an international critical mass of research activity related to foot and ankle biomechanics

i-FAB activities

There are two main activities.

1) The "i-FAB collaborative workspace

Collaborative workspace

A collaborative workspace or shared workspace is an inter-connected environment in which all the participants in dispersed locations can access and interact with each other just as inside a single entity....

" uses the widely accepted Moodle

Moodle

Moodle is a free source e-learning software platform, also known as a Course Management System, Learning Management System, or Virtual Learning Environment...

 platform and offers an online means of communication for the community. This is the principal method by which i-FAB hopes to create a global foot

Foot

The foot is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of one or more segments or bones, generally including claws...

 and ankle biomechanics community. The Moodle system supports discussion tools, online surveys and project databases, and provides a vehicle for presenting, storing and contributing to information. It can also support consortia based research projects to maximize research quality and pace of research progress.

Within the Moodle system i-FAB is supporting specific community wide actions. These include

• i-FAB Project Repository
• i-FAB Consensus groups
• i-FAB Special Interest Group
• i-FAB WikiFlash

2) i-FAB hosts a major congress every two years. The 1st Congress, held at the Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli in Bologna

Bologna

Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...

 Italy in September 2008, attracted 170 delegates. The second congress was at University of Washington

University of Washington

University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...

 in Seattle USA, and attracted over 250 delegates. The community will come together again for “i-FAB Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

2012”.

Membership

I-FAB Members come from every community related to foot and ankle biomechanics, academics, physicians, podiatrists, surgeons, and health professionals, and members of the footwear, insole, surgery and related industries. i-FAB has an open philosophy and connecting people across traditional disciplinary boundaries is one of its key objectives. Membership is free. To join go see the i-FAB moodle page from the i-FAB web site.

Management

A Steering Group has been formed to guide the development of the i-FAB community and its activities. The Steering Group seeks to construct a framework for developing i-FAB to meet the needs of the foot and ankle biomechanics community and welcomes input and direction from members.