[SystemSafety] Logic

[Martyn Thomas]

On 16/02/2014 16:58, John Knight wrote:
> Engineering is a profession not some amateur activity.

I wish this were true for software development.

Here are the criteria for a profession that some professions use in the UK:

Criteria for a Group to be Considered a Profession

  
1. The profession must be controlled by a governing body which in
professional matters directs the behaviour of its members. For their
part the members have a responsibility to subordinate their selfish
private interests in favour of support for the governing body.
  
2. The governing body must set adequate standards of education as a
condition of entry and thereafter ensure that students obtain an
acceptable standard of professional competence. Training and education
do not stop at qualification. They must continue throughout the member's
professional life.
  
3. The governing body must set the ethical rules and professional
standards which are to be observed by the members. They should be higher
than those established by the general law.
  
4. The rules and standards enforced by the governing body should be
designed for the benefit of the public and not for the private advantage
of the members.
  
5. The governing body must take disciplinary action including, if
necessary, expulsion from membership should the rules and standards it
lays down not be observed or should a member be guilty of bad
professional work.
  
6. Work is often reserved to a profession by statute - not for the
advantage of the members but because, for the protection of the public,
it should be carried out only by persons with the requisite training,
standards and disciplines.
  
7. The governing body must satisfy itself that there is fair and open
competition in the practice of the profession so that the public are not
at risk of being exploited. It follows that members in practice must
give information to the public about their experience, competence,
capacity to do the work and the fees payable.
  
8. The members of the profession, whether in practice or in employment,
must be independent in thought and outlook. They must be willing to
speak their minds without fear or favour. They must not allow themselves
to be put under the control or dominance of any person or organisation
which could impair that independence.
  
9. In its specific field of learning a profession must give leadership
to the public it serves.
 


I think we fail on all of them in the UK.

Martyn


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