[SystemSafety] professionalism

[Martyn Thomas]

On 19/02/2014 15:38, Steve Tockey wrote:
> For what it's worth, I run the CSDP and CSDA certification programs
> for IEEE-CS. Candidates need to sign a statement saying they have
> read, and will abide by, the IEEE-CS/ACM code of ethics. If we can
> prove that any certificate holder is/was not abiding, we (I)
> will—without question—revoke that certificate.


I'm certainly not questioning or doubting your integrity or commitment,
but I would like to understand how you would do this (in the hope that I
can find a way to emulate it in the UK).

How would you know that a certificate holder had perhaps not abided by
the code? Would you only act on a complaint, or would you (say) follow
up press reports of a major project failure to investigate whether a
certificate holder was professionally implicated?

And what process would you then follow to establish the facts and to
determine whether to issue a warning or to revoke the certificate?

Would you expect your action to run into issues of commercial
confidentiality or to be challenged in the courts? If so, how would you
overcome these difficulties? Do you or the IEEE-CS carry insurance to
cover such eventualities?

These questions have always seemed to me to be major barriers to
effective enforcement of a code that includes professional competence. I
can see how to handle cases where financial fraud or criminal behaviour
have already been established through court proceedings, but I would
welcome any insight into how standards of professional competence can be
enforced in our field, where there is so much professional disagreement
about the right way to buld and assure software.

Regards

Martyn


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