It is a great pleasure for me to welcome all participants and guests at the 28th International Conference on Lightning Protection (The 28th ICLP) in the historical city of Kanazawa, Japan.
ICLP is one of the most important scientific events that every two years provides the opportunity to discuss general and specific problems relevant to lightning protection in a friendly atmosphere of useful cooperation.
Lightning is a natural and random phenomenon characterized by very severe values of electrical parameters. The protection against lightning is a subject of peculiar complexity that needs more and more a deep knowledge of the characteristics of the phenomenon as well as of the interactions and effects related to failure of the lightning current on structures, services and electrical and electronic systems. Step and touch voltages, mechanical, thermal and chemical effects, failure of electrical and electronic systems due to lightning current and electromagnetic impulsive field may cause important loss, which unfortunately may involve human life, services to the public, cultural heritage and economical values. In the last two decades a big effort has been done by the scientific community and new concept and their practical implementation have been proposed in order to reach more effective protection systems and to reduce the amount of such loss and, especially in the case of electrical and electronic systems, to reach an higher degree of reliability for these systems.

Hopefully in the future it is expected a further development of more effective lightning protection components and devices but the scientific community has the great responsibility to prove any proposed devices in a scientific sense before to accept and allow for effective protection. ICLP is aware of this responsibility to promote good practice and to warn against the use of devices that might jeopardize the required degree of protection and to prevent any promotion and advertising of devices and systems that are, or may be, dangerous.

Since the beginning of the Conference, more than forty years ago, the need of scientific based methodologies for the lightning protection was very clear to the group of scientists, which first activated the ICLP. The aim of this group was to organize an interdisciplinary forum for the exchange of scientific knowledge and information in the fields of lightning protection technology; after forty years nothing was loosen of the initial spirit, even if the interest of the ICLP was enlarged to the protection of electronic systems, the protection of power and communication systems and the Conference became really international with valuable contributions presented by scientists of more than 30 countries.

The result of the research works of the last decades have been transferred to the international standard on lightning protection which now are based not only on the traditional experience of different countries but also on a background discussed and validated in a scientific environment.
As in the past editions the selected contribution will be presented and discussed in 10 Sessions each of them under the responsibility of a Chairman in cooperation with a Moderator, which will emphasize the main ideas and problems and will encourage discussions among participants.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Scientific Committee Members of the ICLP for their continuous support in the decisions and the valuable help in the revision of the contributions and in the scientific organization of different Sessions.

The ICLP is hosted in Japan for the first time ever if since the beginning of the Conference more than forty years ago; the contributions given by Japanese scientists to the lightning protection technology were always of very high scientific level.
I would like to address a special warm thanks to Prof. Dr. Tatsuo Kawamura, Honorary Chairman and to Prof. Dr. Shigeru Yokoyama-Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 28th ICLP 2006, to the members of the Organizing Committee and to all persons involved in the Conference organization, for their effort to ensure a successful meeting.

Finally, it is also important to mention about the city of Kanazawa, one of the most attractive cities of Japan and reach of charm, art and history. We are grateful to Organizers to have selected the historical city of Kanazawa as the place for the 28th ICLP; I am sure that in this beautiful city all the participants, guests and accompanying persons, also coming from countries with different cultures and languages, will find motives of cultural interest. I wish all of you a successful Conference and a pleasant stay in Kanazawa.

Carlo Mazzetti
ICLP President