The ITSF was conceived in 2000 by Prof. Charles Curry bringing together a group of industry experts to emulate (from a European perspective) the US Workshop on Synchronization in Telecommunications Systems (WSTS) held annually in Boulder, Colorado. The first ITSF workshop was held in March 2001 in London and since then has gone from strength to strength and is held annually in cities across Europe. ITSF is now the largest specialist time and sync conference in the world covering Telecoms, Finance, Energy, Transport, Broadcast and Defence.

The ITSF vision sees an annual, technically stimulating, four day presentation driven international industry forum and workshop with tutorials (conference).
The conference will focus on developments, techniques, issues, problems, solutions and Standards relating to accurate and traceable synchronisation, time and timing applicable to Telecom, Broadcasting, Finance, Energy, Defence and other related critical infrastructure activity.

The ITSF mission is to encourage a wider understanding of the needs for synchronisation, time and timing in critical infrastructure and wider applications, by bringing together individuals from industry, government and academia representing users, suppliers and professionals in the timing community. The conference should be preceded by tutorials delivered by industry experts, supported by an evening social networking programme which includes an Icebreaker and a Speaker Dinner. The annual TimeLord award will be made at the Dinner with the TimeLord being the speaker.