ITEA Initiatives Reinvigorating Certified Test Professionals

Within the professional association landscape, ITEA serves as the primary organisation to foster the mastery of test and evaluation amongst those who choose to pursue this honourable and necessary endeavour. This focus distinguishes it from broader defence industry organisations such as the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA). While NDIA provides valuable networking and policy advocacy across the entire defense industrial base, ITEA focuses specifically on advancing T&E through technical education, professional development, and certification. In particular, ITEA offers the Certified Test and Evaluation Professional (CTEP) credential, signifying mastery of essential T&E knowledge across federal, defence, and commercial sectors. This focused mission enables ITEA to maintain deep expertise in T&E methodologies, foster specialised technical communities, and develop certification programs that reflect the evolving demands of modern test and evaluation practice across government, industry, and academia.

The ITEA Professional Development Committee, being one of nine standing committees, has the responsibility for identifying the knowledge, skills and abilities upon which the CTEP credential is based upon, and for implementing assessment strategies for applicants. The CTEP credential itself was introduced in 2013 and required the involvement of over 500 T&E subject matter experts (Gaidry, 2012). The introduction of CTEP also saw the creation of an ITEA Board of Examiners responsible for technical content of the ITEA CTEP written exam.

To all the past members of the Professional Development Committee and Board of Examiners, we sincerely thank you for having the foresight to establish a system of professional credentials and for your hard work in bringing the CTEP credential into existence.

In the spirit of continuous development, and with an eye to encouraging younger practitioners to engage with ITEA, in the spring of 2025 the Professional Development Committee conducted a dispassionate review to determine if the CTEP credential was serving the needs of our professional community. During this process, we identified strong sentiment that the existing CTEP credential needed to be refreshed to improve its accessibility and relevance for T&E practitioners with 3 to 5 years of experience (being the target group for CTEP). It was also identified that a credential for people commencing their professional journey in T&E needed to be created, and that this credential should be capable of being integrated into final year college/university programs. We also concluded that the knowledge areas covered by the credentials needed to be expanded to cover emerging technology and methods such as the application of Model-Based Systems Engineering to T&E, the missionization of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and the application of Mission Engineering, to name a few. Further, the “user experience” of candidates applying for CTEP needed to be improved to better align with consumer expectations created by the COVID-era online learning revolution. Perhaps the strongest sentiment identified was that candidates wanted the option to study for the exam independently, and without incurring significant extra expenses to purchase a myriad of books and other reference material.

Research by Iriogbe et al. (2024) found ‘Professional certifications significantly enhance knowledge, skills, and competencies, leading to improved project success rates.’  Similarly, Halm (2021) notes, ‘Certification promotes professionalism by bolstering commitment and accountability for ongoing professional development and lifelong learning.’  Finally, at an individual level the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2019 found, ‘Professional certifications … can signal proficiency in fast‑changing fields … and both certifications and licenses are tied to labor market outcomes and earnings’ (https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2019/article/professional-certifications-and-occupational-licenses.htm).

The CTEP credential occupies a unique and complementary position within the broader landscape of technical professional certifications. While organisations such as the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) offer the Certified Systems Engineering Professional (CSEP) credential for systems engineering practitioners, CTEP specifically addresses the distinct discipline of test and evaluation. This differentiation is critical: systems engineering focuses on the design, integration, and lifecycle management of complex systems, whereas test and evaluation concentrates on verification, validation, and assessment of system performance, suitability, and survivability. The relationship between CTEP and CSEP reflects the fundamental distinction between their parent disciplines. INCOSE’s CSEP certification validates expertise in systems engineering principles as defined in the INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook and requires candidates to demonstrate knowledge across the systems engineering lifecycle. In contrast, CTEP validates specialised competency in four T&E-specific domains: planning, design, execution, and analysis of tests:

1. Test and Evaluation Planning. Topics include requirements analysis, development of T&E strategies, evaluation approaches, detailed test planning, cost management, contracting strategies, organisational preparation, risk management, and specialised testing methodologies.

2. Test & Evaluation Design. Topics include the principles of test adequacy and the application of scientific test and analysis techniques (STAT), essential for generating credible and defensible test results.

3. Test and Evaluation Execution. Topics include best practices in test control management, data management protocols, and safety and certification procedures necessary during test execution.

4. Test Data Analysis, Evaluation, and Reporting. Topics include data verification and validation, evaluation methods, effective reporting strategies, cyber resilience analysis, model validation, and modern data analytics approaches.

While both systems engineers and T&E disciplines collaborate closely throughout acquisition programs in serving project management objectives (Yesudus et al. 2019), T&E professionals require specialised knowledge in statistical analysis, test adequacy, data collection and management, and evaluation methodologies that extend beyond traditional systems engineering practice.

Test and evaluation are used widely across all domains of Government and Industry, however, few of these explicitly publish and support T&E training like Defence. Hence, a useful benchmark for CTEP is the U.S. Defense T&E competencies required of their Defense Acquisition University (DAU). The Department of Defense (DoD) T&E Workforce Competency Model establishes a comprehensive framework defining the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for T&E professionals supporting Defense acquisition programs. This model organises 25 competencies and 69 competency elements into six units of competence: Planning, Preparation, Test Execution, Analysis, Evaluation, and Reporting, plus Professional competencies that span the entire T&E lifecycle. DAU recognize T&E as one of seven distinct functional areas within the Defense Acquisition Workforce, separate from Engineering and Technical Management (ETM). The separation acknowledges that while T&E and systems engineering are complementary, each requires specialised competencies and career development pathways.

The following cross-mapping demonstrates the substantial alignment between ITEA’s four CTEP Body of Knowledge domains covered earlier and the DAU T&E competency structure, illustrating how CTEP certification validates mastery of the comprehensive skill set required for modern test and evaluation practice.

1. CTEP Domain I: Test and Evaluation Planning. This domain directly aligns with the following DAU competencies:

• Competency 1: Risk Identification
  • Element 1: Identify T&E risk factors based upon likelihood and consequence
  • Element 2: Develop risk mitigation for T&E risk factors
  • Element 3: Support PMO’s development of risk management plan
• Competency 2: Capabilities Assessment
  • Element 4: Translate requirements documents to identify evaluation criteria
  • Element 5: Assess whether capability requirements are well-defined and measurable
  • Element 6: Determine data requirements to assess evaluation criteria
  • Element 7: Determine necessary T&E infrastructure requirements and identify shortfalls
• Competency 3: Program T&E Strategy Development
  • Element 8: Incorporate policies, practices, and procedures to develop T&E strategy utilising Scientific Test and Analysis Techniques (STAT) and the full spectrum of integrated testing
  • Element 9: Develop and document evaluation T&E strategy integrating policy, requirements, cost, and schedule
  • Element 10: Identify organisations and activities with roles in T&E strategy
  • Element 11: Identify and organise T&E management forums (IPTs, ITTs, CTTs)
  • Element 12: Translate T&E strategy into test documents (TEMP, test plans)
• Competency 4: Test Cost Estimating
  • Element 13: Provide financial cost estimates for T&E support across the system lifecycle

2. CTEP Domain II: Test & Evaluation Design

• Competency 3: Program T&E Strategy Development
  • Element 8: Utilise STAT in determining appropriate evaluation criteria for OT and LFT&E parameters
• Competency 12: Determination of Test Adequacy
  • Element 35: Confirm tests conducted support stated objectives and determine appropriate analysis techniques (STAT, DOE)
  • Element 36: Confirm modeling and simulation met test objectives and ensure adequacy
• Competency 2: Capabilities Assessment (Element 6)
  • Determine data requirements to assess evaluation criteria
• Competency 8: Test Control Management (Element 25)
  • Develop, validate, rehearse, and execute tests ensuring data suitable for STAT analysis

3. CTEP Domain III: Test and Evaluation Execution

• Competency 5: Coordination of T&E Activities and Events
  • Element 14: Interact with organizations requiring information exchange for test planning
  • Element 15: Coordinate and monitor availability of required test resources
  • Element 16: Execute tasking orders and funding streams to commit resources
• Competency 6: Test Readiness
  • Element 17: Verify readiness of facilities, operators, maintainers, test teams, and instrumentation
  • Element 18: Ensure required resources deployed to test sites with sufficient time for rehearsal
  • Element 19: Comply with and implement safety, security, and environmental policies
  • Element 20: Assess T&E factors to determine system/test article readiness (TRRs)
  • Element 21: Plan, conduct, and report on Test Readiness Reviews
• Competency 7: Risk Management
  • Element 22: Manage test execution/risk mitigation factors by adapting to real-time changes to optimize test coverage
• Competency 8: Test Control Management
  • Element 23: Confirm data collection tools are valid, operators trained, M&S tools integrated, and system configured
  • Element 24: Confirm and monitor security, safety, and environmental compliance
  • Element 25: Develop, validate, rehearse, and execute tests to facilitate data suitable for analysis
  • Element 26: Control test schedule to complete scenarios and optimize data collection
• Competency 9: Data Management
  • Element 27: Verify all raw test data are secure, collected, documented, and archived
  • Element 28: Ensure validity of collected test data to meet test objectives
  • Element 29: Distribute data per data management plan for analysis

4. CTEP Domain IV: Test Data Analysis, Evaluation, and Reporting

• Competency 10: Data Verification and Validation
  • Element 30: Translate outputs from instrumentation systems to verify and validate test data
  • Element 31: Identify gaps and variances in raw test data to determine data voids or outliers
• Competency 11: Data Reduction and Assimilation
  • Element 32: Reduce, translate, and analyze raw test data to support STAT-based design and evaluation
  • Element 33: Conduct data scoring to refine demonstrated test results and establish complete data sets
  • Element 34: Align data to support specific test objectives in support of evaluation
• Competency 12: Determination of Test Adequacy
  • Element 35: Confirm tests conducted support stated objectives and ensure adequacy of evaluation
  • Element 36: Confirm modeling and simulation met test objectives and ensure adequacy of evaluation
• Competency 13: Validation of Test Results
  • Element 37: Determine whether collected data sufficiently support measurability metrics (effectiveness, suitability, survivability)
  • Element 38: Determine whether M&S data sufficiently supplement live T&E for credible evaluation
• Competency 14: Evaluative Conclusions
  • Element 39: Confirm collected test data sufficiently support the evaluation framework in the TEMP
  • Element 40: Relate test results and evaluation conclusions to performance specifications
  • Element 41: Assess how hardware/software components function together in system-of-systems context
• Competency 15: Technical Reviews
  • Element 42: Determine and provide T&E input to technical and programmatic reviews
• Competency 16: Lessons Learned
  • Element 43: Assess and document lessons learned on test conduct and processes
  • Element 44: Apply/adapt previous lessons learned from similar test activities
• Competency 17: Documentation
  • Element 45: Provide required programmatic T&E reports (quick-look, test reports, evaluation reports)
  • Element 46: Archive data throughout T&E phases to support future efforts

CTEP serves as a professional certification that builds upon and extends the foundational training provided by DAU to the Defense Acquisition Workforce. The CTEP credential is positioned as the natural next step following DAU foundational training and the accumulation of practical experience. Where DAU provides the baseline competencies required for workforce certification, CTEP validates mastery of the broader T&E body of knowledge through a comprehensive peer-reviewed examination and review of a candidates career history and experience in each of the four T&E domains. This progression supports the continuous learning philosophy embedded in modern acquisition workforce development, offering T&E professionals a recognised credential that demonstrates professional competence beyond minimum certification requirements.

The Professional Development Committee is proud to report that four key improvements to ITEA’s professional credentials are now live [https://itea.org/ctep/] and are available to our global workforce. First, the ITEA Journal has become the source of examinable content, and a comprehensive exam preparation reading guide has been published on our newly refreshed ITEA website. With the assistance of the Editor-in-Chief of the ITEA Journal (Dr Keith Joiner), 21 articles were selected from the journal that provide peer-reviewed coverage of knowledge areas considered essential for the modern T&E practitioner. Using the ITEA Journal as the source of examinable content will likely reduce the expenses involved in preparing for the exam for our membership, thereby improving the value proposition of the CTEP credential for candidates.

Second, the newly created ITEA Knowledge Exam is now hosted online by an exam proctoring service (MonitorEdu), and is available globally, with session times available most days of the year. ITEA has awarded a contract to this proctoring service, which includes exam rules that have been tailored to the needs of our workforce, ‘balancing security measures with a supportive learning environment’ (Maphalala & Nkosi, 2025).   This service is necessary to ensure global accessibility for our membership and to protect the integrity of our exam from candidates cheating using generative AI.

Third, a new credential was created for people commencing their T&E professional journey. The Associate T&E Professional (ATEP) credential requires candidates to complete the same ITEA Knowledge Exam as CTEP candidates, however there is no requirement for candidates to have professional experience. This credential is targeted at people who have shown a willingness to study contemporary T&E methods published in our Journal (perhaps even whilst at university), but who are yet to acquire experience. These people represent the next generation of T&E practitioners and should therefore be encouraged to become associated with ITEA as early as possible. Fourth and finally, the process of applying for the CTEP and ATEP credentials has been improved for candidates by the creation of new interactive forms.

I strongly encourage all members to visit the newly refreshed ITEA CTEP webpage and to become familiar with the professional credential pathways available to you. If you are a T&E practitioner with 3+ years of experience and have yet to seek recognition for your professional skills, knowledge and abilities, then perhaps now is the time to challenge yourself!

While the improvements seek to make the CTEP more achievable through self-study, ITEA also offer a CTEP Book of Knowledge course within the United States, and we are planning to offer this globally with the first offering at the UK Summit in the period June 9-10 (link). It includes a structured review of the core knowledge areas required for professional T&E certification. Instruction begins with a brief historical overview of T&E within the U.S. federal government, including contributions from the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), NASA, and other agencies. This was followed by a concise explanation of the DoD Acquisition Process to provide operational context for T&E activities. The core of the course is structured around the four primary domains defined earlier from the CTEP Body of Knowledge.

For example, from July 21 to 23, 2025, ITEA conducted a comprehensive CTEP Body of Knowledge course at the Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic. This three-day tutorial aimed to enhance the competency and professional readiness of T&E practitioners by aligning their expertise with the CTEP examination and certification process. Nineteen T&E professionals attended the course, bringing between 3 and over 20 years of experience in the field, with most serving as engineers supporting testing for NIWC systems. Their work spans the T&E lifecycle, including developmental testing, operational testing, and acceptance testing — primarily in the context of system upgrades and new acquisition programs. The diverse experience levels of the attendees enriched the course dialogue, with senior professionals contributing practical insight and junior professionals benefiting from structured mentorship through group discussions and collaborative exercises.

These training events not only empowered individual practitioners but also reinforced a culture of continuous improvement within the broader test and evaluation enterprise of the host organisations. Future offerings of the CTEP Book of Knowledge course are expected to expand access to certification opportunities and enhance the collective capability of the T&E workforce across the federal government and beyond.

As Chair, it is my intent in 2026 to improve the Professional Development Committee. This committee has the vitally important mission to:

“Design and deliver professional development programs and educational curricula in T&E to enhance the knowledge, skills, and abilities of ITEA members,…., and to oversee the administration of ITEA’s scholarship program.”(ITEA Bylaws)

I am now actively looking for members to join the committee in the following positions:

• Scholarships Program Leaders. 3 positions (North America, UK and Europe, and Asia-Pacific). These members will identify opportunities to create and deliver new scholarships that will enhance T&E career pathways.
• Board of Examiners (BoE). The BoE is a panel of experts appointed to maintain and develop the ITEA Knowledge Exam, and to assist in the evaluation of candidates applying for the CTEP credential. There are no limitations of the quantity of personnel who may serve on the BoE.
• General Committee Members.

I have recently created a Committee Charter which defines the role of the Professional Development Committee, and the positions from which the committee is comprised. I strongly encourage any member who may be interested in joining the committee to get in contact with me directly, or the ITEA Executive Office using the ‘Contact Us’ button on the ITEA Website.

Gaidry, James. (2012). Elevating the T&E Profession. The ITEA Journal. 33 (4), 312-316.

Halm, M. A. (2021). Specialty certification: a path to improving outcomes. American Journal of Critical Care, 30(2), 156-160.

Iriogbe, H. O.; Ebeh, C. O. & Onita, F. B. (2024). The impact of professional certifications on project management and agile practices: A comprehensive analysis of trends, benefits, and career advancements. International Journal of Scholarly Research and Reviews, 5(1), 038-059.

Maphalala, M. C., & Nkosi, N. (2025). Proctoring online assessments: Enhancing security and academic integrity in Open Distance eLearning. Open Praxis, 17(4), 680-690.

Yesudas, R.; Castelle, K.; Joiner, K. F.; Bradley, J. M. & Efatmaneshnik, M. (2020) Addressing tensions of overlapping project management and systems engineering with the elegance of a complex systems governance approach. International Journal of System of Systems Engineering, 10, pp. 164 – 193, http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/IJSSE.2020.109143