Evan Nielsen is the inventor of DIIS and still one of the owners of D-ICE A/S. Evan Nielsen is himself a former pilot and a commercial airline captain and currently Flight Standards Manager at the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). In 1999 Evan fostered the idea for a system to the help warn pilots and promote flight safety in icing conditions. A problem he as a pilot often had encountered.

In 2001 the Danish Technological Institute and Niels Studstrup (also former airline captain and currently instructor on flight simulators) became involved in the R&D process. In cooperation various concepts and models were field tested extensively in Greenland and Scandinavian Airports to prove the basic concepts.

For the ultimate field testing Evan turned towards Canada in 2003. Internationally North America is recognized for its research in ground de-icing of aircrafts and de-icing fluids, and APS Aviation Inc, a consultant company specialized in aviation and ground de-icing, was contracted to perform the field testing at Dorval Airport in Montreal. A low fare carrier, WestJet, became involved in the testing also.

In this last step of the R&D process the system evolved into a complete De-icing Information System which provides highly specialized, faster and more accurate information for pilots to base their de-icing decisions on.