Since its foundation in 2002, Erik has been strongly involved in the International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB). He was one of the initiators and founders of the ISTQB. From 2005 till 2009 he was the vice-president of the ISTQB organization. He is also one of the founders of the local Belgium and The Netherlands ISTQB board, the Belgium Netherlands Testing Qualifications Board (BNTQB), and the Curaçao Testing Qualifications Board (CTQB). In 2025, Erik was voted to become a Fellow of the ISTQB organization.

The evolutionary road-map for the ISTQB Product Portfolio is summarized in the picture below. ISTQB distinguishes between core syllabi (interesting for most tester) and specialist syllabi.  There are three distinct groups of specialist syllabi: technology and approaches, quality characteristic and test levels, testing in particular domains. For over a decade Erik was the editor of the ISTQB “Standard Glossary of terms used in Software Testing”. As a working party chair, he also lead the ISTQB Expert Level working party for more than 10 years. As a co-author he has been, and still is, involved in writing ISTQB syllabi. Erik received a “Certificate of Appreciation” for his continuous contribution to the ISTQB mission and organization. He has delivered many ISTQB courses, consistently achieving high participant satisfaction scores and pass rates.

Below, you will find the complete set of ISTQB syllabi and corresponding sample exams: