The 26^th Congress of the International Commission for Optics (ICO) was held in Cape Town, South Africa, on 21-25, October 2024. During the congress, the general assembly of ICO was held, Prof. Yidong Huang was elected as the vice President of the ICO, and the Chinese Optical Society was granted the right to host the 27th Congress of the ICO.

ICO was founded in 1947 to contribute internationally to the advancement and dissemination of optics and photonics and their applied sciences. ICO is a first Class full member of the International Council for Science (ISC), an international organization that the Optical Society of China joined in 1987. ICO holds an international optical congress every three years, which is known as the "Olympic Games of the international optical community" because of its high level and wide scope. ICO-27 will be held in Beijing on August 22-26, 2027, which is the second time that the congress will be held in China after ICO-20 was successfully held in Changchun in 2005.