Greetings from Brussels!
An exceptional week for the IAPP. We are delighted to announce that the IAPP has been granted accreditation for four of our certification programs (CIPP/US, CIPP/E, CIPM and CIPT) from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) under the International Organization for Standardization's (ISO) standard for personnel certification programs. After months of diligent work by our certification team, we have successfully achieved recognition under the ISO 17024:2012, which contains the principles and requirements for a body certifying persons against specific requirements and includes the development and maintenance of a certification scheme for persons.
IAPP’s Daily Dashboard published an in-depth article on Tuesday speaking to the benefits of the accreditation and what it means for credential holders.
This is a significant milestone for the IAPP. The accreditation goes further to endorse the professional reputation of our certifications as being internationally recognized and having incredibly high levels of integrity and credibility, as well as sophistication as awarded by a premier independent standards body. The ISO standard is considered to be one of the more robust of its kind, which puts professional designations through a series of stress tests covering content process methodology and psychometric reviews. It is certainly a stamp of approval that is sought after by organizations the world over and it is not easy to obtain.
Why seek the ISO stamp? Importantly, ISO helps to harmonize technical and content specifications of products and services making industry more efficient and reducing barriers to international trade while facilitating communication across businesses. In parallel, the conformity to International Standards helps reassure consumers and organizations that products and services are robust and of expected quality to the highest standard. This is necessary in an increasingly interconnected global economy.
The IAPP certification program is certainly in the ascendency. In June we tested 1,857 professionals across the different designations. We also surpassed the 10,000 credentials-earned mark. This is testament to IAPP’s continuous efforts since the certification program inception in 2004. The demand for professional certification in the privacy and data protection field has grown rapidly since, and the future is looking bright for the certifications as well the privacy and data protection profession as a whole.
IAPP CEO and President Trevor Hughes commented on Tuesday, saying of the ISO accreditation that the IAPP have a powerful statement that speaks to the quality and value of IAPP certifications, a message of significance to a growing global community of digital and data protection professionals.
Amen.