The Software and Information Industry Association is a trade association dedicated to the entertainment, consumer and business software industries. Established in 1984 as the Software Publishers Association, the SIIA took its new name when it merged with the related Information Industry Association on January 1, 1999. The joint enterprise was headed by Software Publishers Association founder Ken Wasch and operated out of the SPA's existing offices. The SPA was active in lobbying, industry research and anti-piracy efforts. Its head of research, Ann Stephens, went on to found PC Data in 1991. By 1995, the SPA had over 1,100 software companies in its membership and according to Wired was among "the most powerful computer-related trade groups" before its merger with the Information Industry Association. While Microsoft became a member of the SPA in 1986, it split with the SIIA in 2000 after the group sided against Microsoft in United States v. Microsoft Corp. The Wall Street Journal described Microsoft as the SIIA's "largest member" before the departure. Until 1999, the Software Publishers Association hosted the SPA Annual Conference for software companies. It was renamed the InfoSoft Essentials conference in 1999.
Divisions
Public Policy ~ legal and public policy IP Protection ~ protecting software content Connectiv ~ business information ETIN ~ Education Technology FISD ~ Financial & Information SIPA ~ Specialized Information Publishers SSD ~ Software & Services
Beginning in 1986, the Software Publishers Association hosted the "Excellence in Software Awards" ceremony, an annual black-tie event that The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times compared to the Academy Awards. The Excellence in Software Awards were later renamed the "CODiE Awards", and are now presented by the Software and Information Industry Association. The CODiE are awards to two broad categories: business technology and education technology. There are awards in more than 75 categories, advertised with the statement, "With a grand total of more than 75 different categories, you're sure to find several to meet your marketing/PR objectives!". Notable past winners include companies such as Adobe, BrainPOP, Google, Knewton, McGraw-Hill Education, Jigsaw, Netsuite, Red Hat, Rosetta Stone, Salesforce.com, Digimind, Scribe Software, Vocus, WSJ.com, IXL Learning, itslearning, and more.
