Taranaki Test Professionals Community Continues to Collaborate

Following the first Taranaki Test Professionals Meetup held in October 2020, the Test Professional Community met again on Thursday 8th April 2021. Hosted by Powerco, the meetup featured a number of Taranaki’s larger employers with a few new faces as well as those that attended the first session.

As a region, Taranaki boasts a wide range of industries, with Oil and Gas Exploration and Agriculture being the dominant ones. Our meetup had additional representation from the Health and Utility sectors – all with varying levels of formality and experience with testing. Facilitated using the Lean Coffee format adapted to suit the needs of the meetup, the resulting topic list was extensive, ranging from Test Automation and development methodologies to end user and business involvement in the testing function. Topics picked up for discussion throughout the meetup were the value of Test Automation and how best to implement within an organisation alongside the role and value of end users in the testing process. With each topic, the discussion centered around the processes involved and highlighted the value of implementing fit for purpose test practices. Good test practices are key to successful automation and the successful introduction of the user and business community into the testing process.

With catering being supplied by TTC, one of the main areas of value in the Test Professional Meetup is the local community getting to know ‘who is who in the local zoo’. While a small community by most city sizes, the variety of industries in the Taranaki region means that collaboration isn’t always a given. As with the first meetup in October, one of the valuable outcomes of the Test Professional Meetup is knowing who else is in the community and sharing experiences – both as a confirmation of lessons learned (and not to be repeated) and an exchange of ideas and current/evolving practices.

With two events now being held using the Lean Coffee format, the next event loosely scheduled for three months’ time will focus on presentations from the local community, with a view to addressing some of the topics raised and discussed to date.

For further information and any questions on the Taranaki Test Professionals meetup, please contact TTC.