Beyond the code of ethics: the responsibility of professional societies

  • Authors:

  • Richard S. Rosenberg

  • Affiliations:

  • Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the ethics and social impact component on Shaping policy in the information age
  • Year:
  • 1998

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Abstract

Drafting a code of ethics for a professional society is a daunting and exhausting task. Whereas the basic components of a professional code of ethics or professional standards are reasonably well understood, the specific details require careful tailoring to meet the needs of a given profession. The difficulty of this process probably explains why such codes are rarely updated. Furthermore, once having produced an updated ethics code, many professional organizations, or perhaps better the associated executive, feel that their work has been completed and that they can now present themselves to their countries and the international community as responsible and even concerned societies. But is their work really over? The answer proposed in this paper is a resounding no. I argue that a professional society must provide active and comprehensive support to its members as they seek to do the right thing. In this regard, the Web pages of the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) and the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) are compared as evidence of each society's commitment to its members. I also argue that professional societies must make this commitment and as importantly, be seen to be making it.