IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Fall 2014 - 5

for the benefit of humanity, and IEEE plays an impor3. to be honest and realistic in stating claims or estitant role in fostering this progress. However, there is
mates based on available data;
also ample evidence of negative impact of technol4. to maintain and improve our technical compeogy in different areas. There is a need to reduce or
tence and to undertake technological tasks for
eliminate the collateral impact and unintended conothers only if qualified by training or experience,
sequences of technology evolution. Technologists and
or after full disclosure of pertinent limitations;
researchers must understand the important role they
5. to seek, accept, and offer honest criticism of techhave facing these challenges and how important ethinical work, to acknowledge and correct errors, and
cal decisions are in achieving this goal.
to credit properly the contributions of others.
An ethical professional does not stand idly by
when lives could be affected by their action or inacIn the end, it is all about the passion, the creativity,
tion; they take action for those who will never learn
and the integrity that we have brought to our efforts
of their choices.
as engineers, scientists, educators, and technologists
Some may say that it is acceptable to compromise
ever since we chose this path.
one's ethics in pursuit of a greater good.
We call ourselves technologists, but
A benefit to the "greater good" is, after
perhaps
describing ourselves as humanFor our global
all, difficult to argue against, since the
ists is closer to what we really are. The
professional
ultimate result will help many, while
dictionary cites humanists as "persons
community,
negatively affecting few.
having a strong interest in or concern for
However, this is a position that we, as
human welfare, values, and dignity."
ethics must
stewards for the advancement of techThat sounds like a pursuit we have all
be a nonnology, cannot take. If even one person
been engaged throughout our respective
negotiable
suffers because a professional acts in an
careers.
part of our
unethical manner, the cost is too high.
I believe that was on the minds of
For our global professional commuthe many technologists who, throughout
composition
nity, ethics must be a non-negotiable part
decades past, helped to create profesas engineers,
of our composition as engineers, scisional societies like IEEE. Their focus
scientists, and
entists, and technologists. It must be as
was on those who benefitted from their
technologists.
ingrained within us as the guiding prework, regardless of what that work was.
cepts of our respective professions.
As I mentioned in the beginning as we
But ethics must be demanded of our institutions as
move forward, creating breakthroughs in this new and
well. I am grateful for the IEEE's commitment to ethics:
ever-changing era of technology, there is a renewed need
to hold fast to the precepts of ethics that we find within
We, the members of the IEEE, in recognition
ourselves, and the organizations we choose to be a part
of the importance of our technologies in affectof.
ing the quality of life throughout the world, and
And as those organizations, and the millions of
in accepting a personal obligation to our protechnologists within them, continue to work on behalf
fession, its members and the communities we
of humanity, they do so with the knowledge of the
serve, do hereby commit ourselves to the highlong-term impacts of their efforts.
est ethical and professional conduct...
Because of this, they work accordingly, ensuring
that what they design and build has a sustainable future.
It is that phrase "accepting a personal obligation to our
Gone are the days of planned obsolescence; today, it is
profession" that I perhaps value the most. It is not merely
not about how easily a construct can be replaced, but
about me, not merely about my colleagues - it is not
in how long it can endure and be productive.
even merely about IEEE itself. It is about our profession.
In the years to come, we will be dealing with issues
The IEEE Code of Ethics is an extremely imporof ethics that could not have been foreseen even a
tant document that guides the behavior of the organibrief generation ago.
zation, its members and its volunteers. It has several
As the biological and technological converge
statements related directly to what I described so far:
through improved medical devices, there will be
questions about their use, and about the use of the data
1. to accept responsibility in making decisions congenerated by those devices.
sistent with the safety, health, and welfare of the
■■ Wearable and implantable devices are here, and
public, and to disclose promptly factors that might
endanger the public or the environment;
already gathering data. Eventually, there will be
2. to improve the understanding of technology; its
millions of bits of data out there about the health
appropriate application, and potential consequences;
of individuals and populations.
IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

FALL 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Fall 2014