The goal is to select and publish the best academic Submissions making outstanding contributions towards the understanding, and demonstration of, the linkage between standards and business in the national, international or global arenas.

A Submission may be in the format of a paper or case study.

The Submission must have a title and must be prefaced with an abstract of no more than one page A4 size. The Submission may not exceed 4,000 words of text (not including notes, tables, graphs, charts and bibliography), and should be formatted using a 12 pt type size or larger. Submissions must be in English and must be submitted as a Microsoft ® Word document or an Adobe® Acrobat PDF file. Microsoft ® Word templates will be available for downloading from the IEC Centenary Challenge website (www.iecchallenge.org) and should always be used. Tables, graphs and charts are permitted so long as they are submitted as part of the text file, not as separate files.

Submissions must not contain any content or material which (i) infringes upon or otherwise violates the copyright, trademark, trade secret, or other intellectual property or proprietary rights of any person or entity, (ii) is defamatory or constitutes an invasion of privacy, (iii) is unlawful, (iv) would reasonably cause harm or injury of any kind to any person or entity, or (v) discriminates against any person or entity in any manner whatsoever.

Authors must complete the Registration Form located on the IEC Centenary Challenge website at www.iecchallenge.org. In submitting the Registration Form, the Authors agree to be bound by these Rules. Authors must provide true, accurate and complete information on the Registration Form. For Registrations with more than one author, all of the authors must jointly submit the Registration Form, showing the name, title and contact details of each author. The details of the Academic Institutions must be shown in the Registration Forms.

Completed Registration Forms must be submitted via the IEC Centenary Challenge’s website no later than midnight on 3 March 2006 (Central European Time). IEC will issue an electronic acknowledgement of receipt immediately. IEC reserves the right to refuse any registration that does not comply with these Rules.

Submissions may only be sent electronically through www.iecchallenge.org from midday on 31 May 2006 (Central European Summer Time) until Midnight on 1 September 2006 (Central European Summer Time). Hard copies, disks, telefaxes or other methods of delivery will not be accepted. Submissions cannot be revised, supplemented or withdrawn after submission.

All Submissions must be accompanied by a fully completed Submission Form as provided on the IEC Challenge website. Any Submission not accompanied by a fully completed Submission Form will be disqualified. Completed Submission Forms must be approved by the Academic Institution which, on submission, agrees to be bound by these Rules.

Electronic notifications will be issued as above. Authors and Academic Institutions will not be able to check the status of their Submissions and will receive no other notification until the winning Submissions are announced. Following receipt of the Submissions, IEC may contact the Authors and Academic Institutions via e-mail or by telephone to request additional information.

By agreeing to these Rules, the Authors and Academic Institutions hereby certify that the authors or co-authors are the author or co-authors of the Submission and the Submission is an original work of authorship and there are no third parties that may own the copyright or otherwise have the legal rights to publish and disseminate the Submission or any part. If the Submissions' copyrights are held by Academic Institutions, the Authors shall ensure that all necessary permissions have been obtained to ensure full compliance with these Rules. Submissions which have been previously published in whole or in part are not eligible.

Each of the Authors and Academic Institutions is responsible for obtaining all necessary permissions for use of excerpts and quotations from third party works. Excerpts and quotations must be properly credited with footnotes, endnotes and/or a bibliography. Any Submission that includes third party material without the required permission will be disqualified.

IEC will notify any Award-winning Authors and Academic Institutions that their Submissions have been selected to receive an Award by e-mail according to the information provided in their Submission Forms. The Awards will be publicly announced on 31 October 2006. IEC reserves the right to extend this date to a later date at its discretion. Any such extension will be posted on the IEC Centenary Challenge website. The titles and abstracts of the winning Submissions and the names of the Authors and Academic Institutions will also be posted on the IEC Centenary Challenge website. IEC will present the Awards at an Awards Ceremony on 14 December 2006, at which a representative of the Authors will be invited to attend to receive the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes at IEC's expense.

The Award-winning Submissions, together with others considered by IEC to be of outstanding merit, will be published in an IEC commemorative publication and made available to the wide international membership of the IEC and its Partners. Additionally, the Submissions will be distributed and recommended to learned international technical and business journals for worldwide publication.

The Authors and Academic Institutions which have submitted an Award-winning Submission or any other Submission selected by IEC for publication, hereby grant to IEC, its Partners, and their successors, assigns and authorised licensees, the non-exclusive royalty-free right and license, for 5 years after the date that the IEC publicly announces the Awards to publish, reproduce, copy, display and distribute the Submission throughout the world, in whole and in part, in all print, electronic, online, digital, broadcast, and other media, whether now known or hereafter devised.

The licence includes the right to adapt the contents of the Submission for use in lectures or other presentations alone or with other material and to introduce such illustrations, photographs, tables or graphs or the like. Such Authors and Academic Institutions shall retain the copyright in the Submission. IEC has no objection and encourages the Authors and Academic Institutions to publish, reproduce, copy, display and distribute the Submission during the licence period; IEC requests that it receive written notice from the Authors and Academic Institutions whenever a Submission is published during the license period.

Award-winning Authors and Academic Institutions hereby agree to participate in interviews, personal appearances and other promotional activities in all media upon reasonable notice from IEC, for no additional consideration. IEC shall reimburse Award-winning Authors and Academic Institutions for reasonable travel expenses associated with such appearances and activities. Award-winning Authors and Academic Institutions hereby grant to IEC and its Partners and their successors, assigns and authorised licensees the right to use the Authors' and Academic Institutions' names, voices and likeness for informational, promotional, publicity, advertising and other purposes in connection with the IEC Centenary Challenge for no additional consideration.

All Awards shall be paid in full with no deductions for applicable taxes or withholding. Award-winning Authors and Academic Institutions shall be solely responsible for and shall pay all applicable income and other taxes due as a result of their winning Awards.

The Authors and Academic Institutions, and any person or entity claiming through or on behalf of the Authors and Academic Institutions, hereby release IEC, its Partners, and their respective officers, directors, members, trustees, employees, agents, attorneys, representatives, judges, affiliates, successors, assigns, and licensees (collectively, "Released Parties") from any and all damages, claims, causes of action, liabilities and expenses relating to the Authors' and Academic Institutions' participation, or exclusion or disqualification from participation, in the IEC Centenary Challenge.

The Authors and Academic Institutions, and any person or entity claiming through or on behalf of the Authors and Academic Institutions, shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Released Parties from and against any and all damages, claims, causes of action, liabilities and expenses (including attorneys' fees and costs) incurred by the Released Parties arising from the Authors' and/or the Academic Institutions' (i) violation of these Rules, (ii) submission of a Submission for which the Authors and Academic Institutions do not possess the requisite legal or other proprietary rights (in whole or in part) or necessary permissions from third parties, and (iii) participation, or exclusion or disqualification from participation, in the IEC Centenary Challenge.

IEC reserves the right to shorten, prolong, modify or cancel the IEC Centenary Challenge without having to give any reason or incurring any liability towards any Authors and Academic Institutions.

Authors and Academic Institutions, hereby warrant that they may, according to all laws, rules and regulations to which that they are subject, enter the IEC Centenary Challenge, and that these Rules do not violate any mandatory provisions of such laws, rules and regulations.

The IEC Centenary Challenge is governed by the laws of Switzerland. The Authors and Academic Institutions agree that all transactions involving the IEC Centenary Challenge, IEC and the www.iecchallenge.org website (including performance or non-performance of these Rules) shall be deemed to have occurred solely in Geneva, Switzerland. The Authors and Academic Institutions hereby agree that the Courts of Geneva, Switzerland shall be the exclusive jurisdiction and venue for any kind of dispute or litigation between the Authors and Academic Institutions and the Released Parties. The Authors and Academic Institutions specifically consent to personal jurisdiction in Geneva, Switzerland, and waive any right the Authors and Academic Institutions may have to remove or transfer any case or proceeding to any other jurisdiction, state, or country.

The IEC Centenary Challenge is void where prohibited by applicable law.