In Europe in 1965, the International Project Management Association, called the INTERNET, was founded as a collector of individual national associations from 30 European countries and some non- European countries, such as Egypt, India and China.

In 1997, to avoid confusion, the acronym was changed to IPMA. The UK, France, Germany and Switzerland, who were the leading members, announced the IPMA Competence Baseline (ICB) in 1993. The ICB branches into various National Competence Baselines (NCB), reflecting the status of maturity of project management and cultures and experiences unique to each country.

In 2008, over 40,000 members are part of the IPMA, distributed in the national project management associations of 45 countries: almost all European countries, many countries in Eastern Europe, Russia and major Asian countries like India and China, some African countries, such as Egypt, and Latin America, such as Brazil.

The system of professional Certification, based on both general knowledge and the NCB began in 1997, defining the four levels of certification.