The organizations below are devoted to software testing or quality, or
have special interest groups with such a focus.  National and
International organziations are listed first, followed by local
organizations.

National/International
----------------------

American Society for Quality
    611 E. Wisconsin Ave.
    P.O. Box 3005
    Milwaukee, WI 53201-3005
    800-248-1946, 414-272-8575
    <http://www.asq.org>

    The ASQ (formerly ASQC) administers the CQE (Certified Quality
    Engineer) and CSQE (Certifified Software Quality Engineer)
    designations. 

    The ASQ press has many titles that may be of interest to software
    testers.  Stolen from a conference announcement:

    > Founded in 1946, the American Society for Quality (ASQ)
    > provides a variety of professional, educational, and informational
    > programs reflecting the changing needs of business and industry.
    > Headquartered in Milwaukee, WI, ASQ has been the leading quality
    > improvement organization in the United States for almost 50 years.
    > The Society is composed of more than 135,000 individual members and
    > 1,000 sustaining members worldwide. ASQ's vision is to be the
    > world's recognized champion and leading authority on all issues
    > related to quality.  The mission of ASQ is to facilitate
    > continuous improvement and increased customer satisfaction by
    > identifying, communicating, and promoting the use of quality
    > principles, concepts, and technologies.

    ASQ's Software Division

    > ASQ's Software Division is comprised of [sic] more than 5,000 members
    > including software quality professionals and software engineers
    > interested in applying quality principles to the field of software
    > development.  The Division develops a software engineer
    > certification program, publishes a quarterly newsletter, works with
    > the Software Quality System Registration Committee on establishing
    > an ISO 9000 Software Registration Program in the United States,
    > interacts with other professional software organizations such as
    > the IEEE and the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery), and is
    > involved in many other activities.

    <http://www.asq.org/about/divtech/softdiv/swqweb.html>

    October is National Quality Month (in the U.S.), as decreed by
    Ronald Reagan in 1984.  

Quality Assurance Institute
    7575 Dr. Phillips Blvd., Suite 350
    Orlando Florida  32819
    Phone: 407-363-1111
    Fax:   407-363-1112
    <http://www.qaiusa.com/>

    The QAI publishes The Journal of the Quality Assurance Institute
    monthly.

    They provide CQA certification.  Steve Driscoll wrote:

    > The CQA is someone who has demonstrated a mastery of the Common
    > Body of Knowledge(CBOK) for ensuring the quality of systems (which
    > often include software).  While ISO-9000 is considered part of the
    > CBOK, it's actually independent of the CQA designation (there is a
    > certification program for ISO auditors).
    > ...  while my life is still pretty much the same as it was prior to
    > obtaining the CQA designation, I found that the reading and
    > studying to prepare for the exam extremely beneficial in my duties
    > as a Quality Analyst.  I recommend it to anyone who is interested
    > in producing quality software (which includes developers as well
    > as quality analysts).

Society for Software Quality
    > Vision - To be recognized as the Society for those interested
    > in promoting "quality" as a universal goal for software.
    >
    > Mission - Promote "quality" as a desirable attribute of software.

    PO Box 86958
    San Diego, CA 92138-6958
    619-297-1544
    <http://www.ssq.org/>

Software Process Improvement Network
    > The Software Process Improvement Network is comprised of
    > individuals who want to improve software engineering practice. The
    > individuals are organized into regional groups called "SPINS" that
    > meet and share their experiences initiating and sustaining software
    > process improvement programs. They meet annually at the SEPG
    > (Software Engineering Process Group) Conference, which is
    > co-sponsored by the SEI and a regional SPIN.
    (from the web page)

    <http://www.sei.cmu.edu/collaborating/spins/spins.html>

British Computer Society
    Software Testing BCS Specialist Group
    > The Group has a number of full-day meetings per annum and is host
    > to the international conference on software testing - EuroSTAR. It
    > is producing a standard on component testing and has a sub-group on
    > Statistical Testing Methods. A full library of testing-related
    > material is available at meetings.
    >
    > It promotes awareness of testing, competence in the field, and
    > encourages research.
    (from the web page)

    <http://www.bcs.org.uk/siggroup/sg55.htm>

Chinese Association for Software Quality (CASQ)
    This association is formed to share information and experiences
    amongst its members and people on software quality engineering.

    <http://www.casq.org>
    casq@newcastle.ac.uk

Swedish Association for Software Testing (SAST)
    SAST is a non-profit organisation with members from all different
    companies that are interested in Software Testing within Sweden.

    The purpose of SAST to improve status of Software Testers and
    Software Testing, through informal education and exchange of
    information.  Since this is a Swedish organization most activities
    are in Swedish.  If you are interested you are welcome to contact
    Lise-Lotte Karlsson Boman (lise-lotte.karlsson-boman@posten.se) or
    Jan Warg (jan@warg.se).

    <http://public-www.pi.se/~sast>

TestNet
    TestNet is a Special Interest Group in Software Testing with over 400 
    members of over 150 companies and organisations mainly in the Netherlands
    (although there are a few members from Belgium). The meetings and
    news-items are in Dutch.

    > The purpose of TestNet is the professionalization of testing IT products,
    > and an increase in the awareness and the importance of testing as a 
    > profession in its own right. TestNet stimulates the exchange of
    > professional knowledge and practical experience amongst testers, and 
    > stimulates research, from a scientific standpoint as well as from a 
    > practical perspective.
    (from the web page)
    
    If interested or for information contact at secretaris@testnet.org

    <http://www.testnet.org>
    testnet@testnet.org

CRIM Software Test Centre
    CRIM is a transfer and liaison centre with fifteen years' 
    experience in leading-edge information technologies and 
    computer application sectors. 

    CRIM Software Test Centre (STC) helps big or small businesses
    and other kinds of organizations boost product quality, cut 
    risk and optimize investments. Technologically, CRIM STC 
    pinpoints the strengths and weaknesses of software applications
    based on pre-established criteria. CRIM STC may also recommend 
    various ways of improving and optimizing the product testing 
    and development processes. 

    <http://www.crim.ca/en/index.epl?selec=a000&href=/en/ctl/index.htm>    
Local organizations
-------------------

Most of the organizations above sponsor local organizations.  Contact them
to find local organizations near you.  In this section you'll find local
organizations that don't appear to have a national affiliation.

The Software Quality Institute At UT

    (stolen from a conference announcement)
    > The Software Quality Institute (SQI) at The University of Texas at
    > Austin is a multidisciplinary partnership between UT-Austin and the
    > software and information systems industries in Texas.  It is
    > recognized as a leading authority on and champion for software
    > quality.  SQI was founded in 1993 for the purpose of strengthening
    > organizations to compete more successfully in global markets
    > through sponsorship of seminars and conferences. An advisory group
    > of 24 industry and academic representatives guides the Institute.
    > Its popular programs include: a 13 week long Software Project
    > Management Certificate Program, one- and two-day seminars offered
    > to the public and as in-company contract courses, our "Software
    > Quality Matters" quarterly newsletter that addresses issues of
    > concern relative to quality issues, sponsorship of monthly forums
    > for discussion of software issues (including the Software Process
    > Improvement Network (A-SPIN), the Austin Software Executives' Group
    > (ASEG), and the Austin Forum for Object-Oriented Technology
    > (AFOOT), and on-line services which include a Worldwide Web
    > Home Page and topical newsgroups.

    The web page is <http://www.utexas.edu/coe/sqi/>.  The newsgroups
    seem to be reachable only at UT.  For information on newsletter
    subscriptions, contact info@sqi.utexas.edu.

Central Ohio Quality Assurance Association
    Mission Statement:  To provide and promote continuous quality
    improvement information to software organizations in our
    communities.  COQAA is organized to share state-of-the-art quality
    assurance methods, tools, and techniques among its members.

    P.O. Box 14191, Columbus, Ohio 43214-0191
    contact: Jerry Fehribach, 614-447-3600, jfehribach@cas.org
    <http://www.coqaa.org>

Australian Software Quality Research Institute
Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
<http://www-sqi.cit.gu.edu.au/>

Triangle Information Systems Quality Association (North Carolina)
http://www.rtpnet.org/tisqa/
contacts - Dennis Brandel 72652.1146@compuserve.com
           David Wood  DAVDWOOD@VNET.IBM.COM

North Carolina Quality Leadership Foundation
    800-207-5685
    http://www.rtpnet.org/ncqlf/

New England Software Quality Assurance Forum (NESQAF)
    NESQAF is a regional non-profit society created by software quality
    professionals for software quality professionals. Each month,
    professionals from software companies and MIS organizations along
    with other industry experts exchange ideas, principles, and
    experiences on the latest quality assurance techniques and
    technologies. An email distribution list is available.

    Monthly meetings in Cambridge, MA.
    Contact - Alan Titelbaum, alan.titelbaum@tfn.com, 617-856-2467.
    <http://www.nesqaf.org/>

Software Testing Institute
    Offers industry research, surveys, publications, online services
    and seminars to software development and testing professionals.  A
    list of software testing product vendors, including web site and
    e-mail links, is available from our web site:

    <http://www.ondaweb.com/sti>

    contact - Susan Archer, Director (sarcher@metronet.com)
    726 Loganwood Ave., Richardson, TX  75080
    972-680-8507, fax 972-680-8905

Centre for Software Reliability
    The Centre for Software Reliability (CSR) is a research centre
    within the Department of Computing Science at the University of
    Newcastle upon Tyne; it conducts research on how to achieve
    improved levels of dependability from computing systems.

    csr@newcastle.ac.uk
    <http://www.csr.ncl.ac.uk/>

Seattle Area Software Quality Assurance Group (SASQAG)
   Purpose: To Promote Professional Software Quality Practices
   <http://www.sasqag.org/>