Conference History
SEPG Europe (formerly known as European SEPG) was first held in 1996, through an initiative of the ESPI Foundation and the SEI, to make the Capability Maturity Model for Software more accessible to organizations in Europe.
"At the time, Europe was a very fledgling market for process improvement in general," says Lorna Elkington, one of the founders of the ESPI Foundation. "We formed a very strong relationship with the SEI at the time to build a program that would be suitable for the European community."
The ESPI Foundation chose Amsterdam as the site of the first conference because of its central location and for the opportunity to partner with a local chapter of a Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN) that had recently started in the area.
"Both of us benefitted," Elkington says. "The SPIN is now a very active and flourishing organization."
From the very first conference, SEPG Europe established itself as the meeting point for individuals and organizations interested in process improvement.
Early on, it was realized that a special symposium would be needed that would be dedicated solely to measurement. Now a two-day program, "Measurement and Analysis" has become one of the most popular two-day tracks at the conference. Planners have also established a "Getting Started" symposium for conference attendees who are just getting started in process improvement.
In 2007, by mutual agreement, the ESPI Foundation and the SEI agreed that the SEI would oversee the European conference. The SEI now operates conferences in North America, Europe, Latin America, and Australia.
"The SEPG Conference Series is certainly going global," says Dr. Caroline Graettinger, chair of the SEPG Conference Series. "The reason is that different regions of the world have different needs. We want to make sure that if you go to the European conference, you are hearing about whats important to that community."
The scope of process improvement and management has also expanded since the conference series first began with the North America series in 1988, according to Graettinger.
"It used to be about the development of software. Now, we talk about software and systems development and acquisition and maintenance. Most recently, we've started including software and systems services," Graettinger says.
