The International Institute for Software Testing (IIST) is an educational and professional development organization that has been founded to meet the following goal:

To promote a disciplined approach to software testing and to caution against ad hoc testing by non-qualified individuals and groups.

• To promote and provide education and certification of software testing professionals around the world.
• To create a pool of qualified software testing professionals to meet the needs of testing organizations.
• To provide assistance and guidance to members, both corporate and individuals, performing testing of all types of software systems.
• To provide a framework for assessing organizational testing practices and procedures.
• To partner with different software quality groups around the world to assure continuity of information flow among testing professionals.
• To serve as a clearinghouse of services, methods, and tools supporting the discipline of software testing.
• To provide an open forum for discussing different testing issues.
• In order to follow its charter, IIST will rely on the support of its Founding Sponsors (organizations providing support to IIST during its first year of operation and every year thereafter). IIST is a membership-based organization that provides membership to organizations of all types. The direction and operation of IIST will be the responsibility of its Chairman and CEO with significant input from an Advisory Board. The Advisory Board will be formed of practitioners from the Founding Sponsor organizations as well as other invited practitioners and experts in the field.