Life is different for all of us since the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic. The International Ozone Association (IOA) is no exception. Like so many people, organizations, and businesses, the IOA has been required to adapt their operations to the existing COVID-19 environment.
The main impact, of course, has been the lack of conferences. It was necessary to cancel the Pan American Group (IOA-PAG) conference in Las Vegas in late August and an “Ozone Days” event in Beauvais, France in mid-September. The IOA Executive Committee is now trying to decide whether to continue to plan the IOA 25th World Congress and Exhibition in Windsor, Canada, late August 2021 or to reschedule this as a virtual World Congress. A decision will be made by the end of the year.
Fortunately, Ozone: Science & Engineering has been able to continue mostly as planned. We have been able to publish the online version on time and have had only slight delays in delivering the printed version. Paper submittals remain strong and our editorial staff and reviewers have been able to process the papers submitted as usual. We are seeing an increasing number of COVID-19 related papers being submitted and are expediting their review.
The IOA has been proactive in responding to the current situation. Early in the stages of responding to the pandemic, IOA President Dr. Saad Jasim issued a statement on COVID-19 (OS&E Issue 3) and a message of thanks and encouragement to Water Professionals. The IOA is providing support to a research project by McMaster University, Canada investigating whether wastewater testing for coronavirus signatures can be leveraged as an early detection biomarker to assess community widespread of the disease in the province of Ontario, Canada. The project may eventually look into the use of ozone to treat the wastewater.
To respond to the lack of in-person conferences, the IOA regional groups are preparing online events. The Pan American Group (PAG) has conducted two webinars: the use of computational fluid dynamics in ozone system design, and on water reuse. The European Group (EA3G) is planning a series of six webinars starting in late 2020 and extending into mid 2021 on ozone disinfection in the context of the COVID-10 crisis. The Japan Ozone Association (JOA) is converting their 38th Annual Seminar on Ozone Technology to a virtual event in late November.
The IOA Board of Directors held an annual Board meeting online in early fall to address the activities of the IOA in light of this pandemic. The IOA is continuously reviewing the situation with regard to the pandemic and making the necessary adjustments to provide service to its members and the ozone community.
We look forward to the day to when this is behind us and we can return to our normal operations with in-person conferences. The conferences are the life blood of the IOA and its members and really cannot be totally replaced by other formats. Thanks to all the IOA volunteers who are providing the extra effort to keep the organization healthy and viable.