Istanbul Software Testing Conference (ISTC)

ISTC 2026: Shaping the Future of Software Quality

Welcome to the Istanbul Software Testing Conference (ISTC) 2026 – the premier global gathering dedicated to advancing the art, science, and community of software testing and quality assurance. Building on the phenomenal success and momentum of ISTC 2025, which welcomed over 350 passionate professionals, featured 20 insightful sessions, 6 hands-on workshops, and showcased world-class expertise, ISTC 2026 promises to be our most impactful and inspiring event yet.

Program Chair of ISTC 2026

Professor of Software Engineering | Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain & Open Universiteit, The Netherlands

We are honored to have Professor Tanja Vos as our Program Chair for ISTC 2026. With over 25 years of experience in software testing research and education, Tanja brings exceptional expertise to curate a world-class program that bridges cutting-edge research with practical industry applications.

As Program Chair of EuroSTAR 2025, Tanja has demonstrated her ability to create compelling conference experiences. She leads the TESTAR.org open-source project for intelligent GUI testing and has pioneered the concept of Critical Testing Literacy (CTL) as a fundamental component of AI literacy.

Her passion for connecting research, industry, and education communities makes her the ideal architect for ISTC 2026’s program, ensuring our conference delivers both theoretical insights and practical solutions.

Tanja Vos
Chairman

Learn more about Tanja’s innovative approach in her TEDx talk.

Program Committee Members of ISTC 2026

Principal Quality Consultant at Sogeti and ISTC 2025

Rik Marselis

Rik Marselis is a Principal Quality Consultant at Sogeti Netherlands, with over 40 years in IT and 25 years specializing in quality engineering and testing. A dynamic presenter, trainer, author, and coach, he has empowered numerous organizations with practical tools and insights. Accredited in TMAP, ISTQB, and TPI, Rik co-authored “Quality for DevOps Teams” and “Testing in the Digital Age – AI Makes the Difference,” contributing significantly to www.TMAP.net.
Honored with the ISTQB Software Testing Excellence Award (2022) and EuroSTAR Testing Excellence Award (2023), Rik is a global speaker, having keynoted at ISTC 2024 and EuroSTAR eight times. As ISTC 2025 Program Chair, he leads a tutorial on Day 1 and delivers the opening keynote on Day 2, blending his GenAI expertise with hands-on quality engineering guidance.

Program Chair @ ISTC / Founder @ Padran Information Technologies

Okan Çakmak

Head of IT Governance and Quality Management @ KKB Kredi Kayıt Bürosu

Evrim Şen Kayıboğlu

Industrial engineer with an MBA degree , having over 20 years experience with record of success in banking/technology sector, 2 years as an AUDITOR, 19 years as a BUSINESS/SYSTEM ANALYST, PROJECT MANAGER and IT MANAGER.
Being Certified Business Analysis ProfessionalTM (CBAP®) by International Institute of Business Analysis is an evidence of depth-in knowledge on Business & System Analysis.

Being TOGAF® 9 Certified( The Open Group Arhitecture Framework) by Open Group is a validation of depth-in knowledge on Enterprise Architecture.
Being PMP® Certified by Project Management Institute is an evidence of depth-in knowledge on Project Management.

Test Director @ Aktif Bank

Hüseyin Erdem Oğuz

Test Director @ Koç Digital

Dr. Hasan Yükselten

Hasan works as a Test Manager at KocDigital, a leading IoT company in Turkey. He has more than 20 years of experience in the SW testing area in the fields of telecom, defense, IoT, and has managed many testing teams. He enjoys talking about the social aspect of testing and has spoken at many different testing conferences. He studied for a PhD in Philosophy of Technology.
In 2013, Hasan received the EuroSTAR Quality Star of the Year Award.
In 2014, Hasan's team received the TESTA Test Team of the Year Award.

What happend in 2025?

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