The formal definition of professional certification is: “A third-party attestation of an individual’s level of knowledge in a certain industry or profession. They are granted by authorities in the field, such as professional societies. Most certifications are time-limited and expire after a period of time, while others can be renewed”.

The ICCP and CAP programs satisfy this definition because they are developed and administered by the ICA, a professional, not-for-profit society, that operates as an independent, third party organization, not a private, for-profit company or an academic institution.