PRINCE2, or PRojects IN Controlled Environments, is a project management methodology. It covers the management, control and organisation of a project.
It is derived from the earlier PRINCE technique, which was initially developed in 1989 by the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) as a UK Government standard for information systems project management; however, it soon became regularly applied outside the purely IT environment. PRINCE2 was released in 1996 as a generic project management method. PRINCE2 has become increasingly popular and is now the de facto standard for project management in the UK. Its use has spread beyond the UK to more than 50[citation needed] other countries.
The most current revision was released in 2005 by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC). The name "PRINCE2" is a Registered Trade Mark of the OGC.