It is the aim of CSI to facilitate the cooperation between its members for the benefit, further education and development of those individual scientists and technicians. CSI achieves its aims by acting as the central point for technical exchange and information sharing regarding science and technology, e.g. by conferences or congresses.

The Secretariat and Presidency rotates among the member organisations in a four-yearly cycle. For the previous period, the Secretariat resided with the Australian member, Surface Coatings Association Australia (SCAA), who also provided the inaugural President of CSI, Mr Kenneth Lofhelm FTSC FRACI C.Chem. Meetings of CSI members are held annually, typically during a national or international conference or congress of one of the member organisations.

At the most recent meeting held in October 2017 in Tokyo, Japan, at the 90th anniversary conference of the Japan Society for Colour Materials (JSCM), the decision was made that the next Secretariat and Presidency shall be located for the first time at CSI member Federation of Associations of Technicians for Industry of Paints in European Countries (FATIPEC) in the hands of FATIPEC President Dr Michael Hilt MBA.

The new President of CSI assumed responsibilities on 1 January 2018. Goals and objectives for the next four years comprise intensive contact amongst the CSI-member associations and to foster the international exchange with in-kind federations representing our industry. In times of new international barriers, the representatives of the CSI members are convinced that intensifying the exchange is the basis of making CSI a strong worldwide platform for the science and technology of all surface coatings, as well as for our industry.