Standards for Certifying Computer ‘T~ Professionals Donald Goambam East TemeaseeStateUniversity Ethics in the Computer Age Conference Wbn - canptas wereprimaily statistical devices, Chd.s, and writing reporkt the general popuke had little minimal interactionwith computerin action. Commonexamples of computer ethical isswts in that earlier age had to do with pqpmxner’s ~ computers writing programs which As h -g or stock tIIUMSCtiODS. slowly and invisibly permeatedmostareasof our life, we entereda new age of computing in which the successfuloperation of the computerkd processes assumed ethid significance. The general public had more interactions with and greater depmlence on computerized processes.his changeplacesgreatersignificance on the activity of the computing practitioner. As the practice of computing has change4$ so have the computing practitioner’s ethical obligations changed in both degree and kind. It is important to dcfme and codify these responsibilities and guidelines to practice for several reasons. First, the general populace wants some way to ascertain that the computer developer has the skill and commitment to perform the job they are hired to do. Second, computing as a profession needs to codify what they expect of themselves as a profession, so that anyone ck?ady understands their entering the profession responsibilities as a computer professional. As in other professions, when the professional standard is specified it helps behavior for the to defm appropriate non-professional. For example, the fact that medicine has a standard of anesthetizing a wound makes it unacceptable for a parent to put dirt in a child’s wound if their is an anesthetic available. In the same way, an established standard against computer trespass would simplify the decision of whether computer trespassby a non-professional was acceptable. Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial advantage, the ACM copyright notice and the title of the publication and its date appear, and notice is given that copying is by permission of the Association of Computing Machinery. To copy otherwise, or to republish, require+ a fee and/or specific Permission. Ethics in Computer Age, Gatlinburg,TN USA @ 1994 ACM 0-89791 -644-1 /94/001 1...$3.50 178 Computing societies have become aware of the shift in the signifunce of computing and have &veloped a signi&mce interest in establishing standards. Early attempts to certify individuals as cxxnputer competent were uncktaken by the Institute for the Certitlcation of Computing Professionals. This orgmizakm was Suppated ‘lhere was not an by several computing societies. overwhelming response to their efforts. In the early stages of computing thexe was lithe Undemandm ‘gorattention paidtotheethkal responsibilities of profmionals. companies routinely put secretaries and music majors through 30 hours of video training and turned them lose on data pmcasing projects. As the nature of the computing task change4 these same practices were followed and the trainees were set lose on life-critical software development projects. The enormous risks of using programmers with limited training has been documented by the GAO report on the BSY-2 program. Many people have decided to call themselves “software engineed’ without meeting a single Wndard. In 1989 Ed Yourdon complained, “I wouldn’t call myself a software engineer unless I could honestly say that the software I mated truly met the standds one would expect from a well-engineavd product.”. Yourdon notes that the term “software engineer” is “being used willy-nilly by anyone who has ever written a single line of code. If people could call themselves doctors or lawyers as easily as they call themselves software engineers we would still be in the Dark Ages. ... We must apply a rigorous certification process to anyone who wants to be a software engineer. It should be a title that is tamed and should require at least as much blo@ sweatj and tears as a medical or law &gree. to After all, we’re doing work that is just as important society as the WO1’k done by doctors and lawyers.” ~ stratwies Ott 1989 Vol 3, 10 page 12) As the criticality and pervasiveness of Sofiwm has increased so has the increase in developing standxds and certifying (x licensing computer professionals. ‘l%e level of interest has encouraged many entrepreneurs to enter the certithtion business, One can become a “Certified Word Processor” or a “Microsoft Certifkd Software Systems Engineer”. llwse types of cetication do not have any support from professionat computing organizadons and do not meet minimal educational standds required to be called an engineer. Major computing organizadons are now working on standards to establish software engineering as a profession. The IEEE ComputerSocietyand the ACM, the world’s two largest organizations of computing professionals have established a Joint Steering Committee for the Establishment of Software Engineering as a Profession. This steering committee has established three tasks forces to accomplish their mission. One task force is identifying the body of knowledge and recommended practices, and another task force is addressing educational issues. The third task force on Software Engineering Ethics and Professional Practices is tasked with documenting and codifying standards of ethical and These professional practices for Software Engineers. standards shall document generally accepted principles for identifying and resolving ethical conflicts relevant to the discipline of soflware engineering. Consideration shall be given to the responsibilities and obligations of the Software Engineer to peers and laypersons, employer, customer(s), the profession and Society/humanity. Additionally, Considemtion shall be Similarly given to the obligations and responsibilities of these various entities towards the software Engineer. This activity meets some of the initial benefits of cwtifying computer professionals, namely the profession will have a documented w of stanti about sofhvare development and acceptable behavior of software professionals. These standards will enlighten the behavior of the non-professional. The results of this activity can also be used to establish licensing for software engineers. Such standards may incluti A minimum level of Edu@ion; ~filCZltkSl proces, An Enforced xic Mandatory Continuing Education to Assure currenqq and A set of professiomd standards, including Technical competency, code of ethics, and societal responsibility. 179