REGION 10 ETHICS PRESENTATION

IEEE REGION 10 ANNUAL MEETINGQUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC, CANADA

19 SEPTEMBER 2008DANIEL S. YEUNG

CHARLES E. HICKMAN

REGION 10 ETHICS PRESENTATION

• Introduction Professional ethics issues

• Overview of IEEE Ethics and Member Conduct Committee (EMCC)

• EMCC assignments and accomplishments IEEE Code of Ethics revision IEEE liaison with National Institute for

Engineering Ethics IEEE Award for Distinguished Ethical Practices IEEE Student Ethics Competition

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

• ETHICS: Rules of conduct recognized in respect to the actions of persons in the profession

• CODE OF ETHICS: Governs the behavior of members of the profession; usually written in general terms

• CORPORATE ETHICS: Composed of individual actions; may be governed by legislation, may be influenced by competition/economics

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

EXAMPLES OF ETHICS ISSUES• Price fixing/reciprocal agreements• Bribery/kickbacks• Advertising• Confidential/proprietary information• Intellectual property • Financial fraud• Identity theft

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

• Intellectual property refers to the protection of ideas with patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets

Patents – Concept in United States Constitution Copyright infringement – Google library project? Trademarks – Immediate customer recognition Trade secrets – Unauthorized use is an unfair practice Plagiarism/self-plagiarism Academic copy-and-paste papers IEEE Xplore and Google links

ETHICS AND MEMBER CONDUCT COMMITTEE (EMCC)

MISSION The Ethics and Member Conduct

Committee advises the Board of Directors on ethics policies and concerns, as well as fosters awareness on ethical issues and promotes ethical behavior among individuals and organizations working within IEEE fields of interest.

ETHICS AND MEMBER CONDUCTCOMMITTEE (EMCC)

SCOPEIEEE Bylaw I-306.7

“The Ethics and Member Conduct Committee shall make recommendations for policies and/or educational programs to promote the ethical behavior of members and staff, and shall consider instituting proceedings, as defined in IEEE Bylaws I-110 and I-111, related to matters of member and officer discipline and requests for support. Neither the Ethics and Member Conduct Committee nor any of its members shall solicit or otherwise invite complaints, nor shall they provide advice to individuals.”

IEEE BYLAW I-110MEMBER DISCIPLINE AND SUPPORT

• Cause for expulsion, suspension or censure• Member conduct complaints• Hearing board• Requests for support• Misrepresentation

PROCEDURES FOR HANDLING MEMBER CONDUCT COMPLAINTS

The EMCC receives complaints from members about the conduct of other members.

The EMCC conducts a preliminary investigation. If the EMCC finds that the facts can be proven and

constitute cause for censure, suspension, or expulsion

a Hearing Board is convened. The Hearing Board deliberates. The IEEE Board of Directors takes final action.

See Bylaws I-110 and I-111 and Policy 7.11

IEEE CODE OF ETHICS HAS A LONG HISTORY

1912 – Code adopted by the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE).

1963 – IEEE endorsed “Canons of Ethics of Engineers” after AIEE/IRE merger.

1974 – Board of Directors approved “IEEE Code of Ethics for Engineers”.

1979-89 – Code underwent a few revisions. 1990 – Board of Directors approved simplified

IEEE Code of Ethics. 2006 – Board of Directors approved revision to the

IEEE Code of Ethics.

IEEE CODE OF ETHICS REVISION

We, the members of the IEEE, in recognition of the importance of our technologies in affecting the quality of life throughout the world and in accepting a personal obligation to our profession, its members and the communities we serve, do hereby commit ourselves to the highest ethical and professional conduct and agree:

1. to accept responsibility in making engineering decisions consistent with the safety, health and welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment.

LIAISON WITH THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ENGINEERING ETHICS

National Institute for Engineering Ethics (NIEE) encourages cooperation among individuals, universities, professional and technical societies and business organizations with regard to engineering ethics

Liaison provides the IEEE with a voice in determining the format and content of NIEE projects and an opportunity to interact with other professional engineering societies

IEEE AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED ETHICAL PRACTICES

• Description of the award: For (a) exemplary

ethical behavior/practices and/or (b) persuasive advocacy or promotion of ethical behavior/practices.

• Eligibility: Members of the IEEE and organizations that employ IEEE members.

• Nominations: Details for nominations available on EMCC website (www.ieee.org/ethics).

• EMCC REQUESTS YOUR SUPPORT AND NOMINATIONS FOR THIS AWARD.

STUDENT ETHICS COMPETITION GOALS

Foster familiarity with IEEE Code of Ethics and concepts

Promote a model for discussing and analyzing ethical questions

Learn about ethics in a “fun” context Provide experience in applying ethical

concepts to hypothetical professional situations

Supplement Regional/Sectional ethics programs

STUDENT ETHICS COMPETITION GUIDELINES AND REQUIREMENTS

Funding for maximum of 10 events per year spread among the 10 IEEE Regions

Competition is suggested to be between 4 to 6 teams made up of 2 to3 IEEE Student/Graduate members

Each team represents their student branch or similar group

Each team is sequestered and given a period of time to prepare a presentation and defense of an ethical situation provided by the sponsor

Each team’s presentation/defense will be judged by a group of 3 to 6 judges using a standardized judging form.

STUDENT ETHICS COMPETITION RECOMMENDATIONS

Schedule a Student Ethics Competition in your Region, Section and/or Chapter

Access Guidelines and RequirementsSelect an IEEE program/venue that will attract

sufficient student involvementEstablish a management team and panel of

judgesSelect a case from the EMCC portfolio or

produce your own Notify EMCC about plans and request funding

approval at ethics@ieee.org

CONCLUSIONS

• A goal of EMCC is to focus on outreach by developing an Ethics Speaker list, preparing ethics training and lecture materials, and possibly making ethics case studies available online.

• The IEEE Institute publishes ethics articles• Ethics awareness outreach includes Regions,

Sections, Chapters, Branches....• Current areas of ethics awareness include

IEEE Award for Distinguished Ethical Practices Student Ethics Competition

Contact/Web Information

E-mail: ethics@ieee.org To make inquiries or to request

resource materials

Web: http://www.ieee.org/ethics

COMMENTS

QUESTIONS?