[en] Our understanding of the physics of internal transport barriers (ITBs) is being furthered by analysis and comparisons of experimental data from many different tokamaks worldwide. An international database consisting of scalar and 2-D profile data on ITB plasmas is being developed to determine the requirements for the formation and sustainment of ITBs and to perform tests of theory-based transport models in an effort to improve the predictive capability of the models. Tests of several transport models (JETTO, Weiland model) using the 2-D profile data indicate that there is only limited agreement between the model predictions and the experimental results for the range of plasma conditions examined for the different devices (DIII-D, JET, JT-60U). Gyrokinetic stability analysis of the ITB discharges from these devices indicates that the ITG/TEM growth rates decrease with increased negative magnetic shear and that the ExB shear rate is comparable to the linear growth rates at the location of the ITB. (author)