I think we can achive the same thing without getting the gov involved. What we need is an organization that sets a reasonably high criteria for membership and then has continuing education requirements. There are so many facets of application design and development that are common regardless of language or tool which can be set forth and adhered to.

The key to any such group will be as follows:
1. No officer or member can profit financially from the dues of the group.
2. A reasonably high level of entrance requirments must be established. A bachelors in Comp Sci, MCSE, etc.
3. The primary goal cannot be to get members. This will cause the above to be bypassed like crazy.
4. Continuing education requirements must be established and maintained.
5. A code of ethics must be set forth. This presents the client with reasonable expectations.

Enterprise Development magazine had an article by Marc Sewell (May 2000, pg 62) on the Worldwide Institute of Software Architects (www.wwisa.org) that shows promise. Much of what I said above is contained in Marc's article. I'll be checking it out in the next few days.

Best