The Institute - March 2020 - TI-4

briefings

Proposed IEEE Code
of Ethics Revisions
The IEEE Board of Directors at its 24 November
meeting approved the following resolution:
"Resolved that the proposed revisions to the
IEEE Code of Ethics, in the form presented to
the IEEE Board of Directors, is approved for
publication in THE INSTITUTE and circulation to
obtain member and volunteer feedback."
The following is the IEEE Code of Ethics, with
proposed revisions underlined. It is hereby
published for comment in accordance with
Section 7.8 of the IEEE Policies.

Member comments are requested on these
proposed revisions through 10 April 2020.
Comments on the proposed revisions should be
directed to 2020-code-of-ethics@ieee.org.
We, the members of the
IEEE, in recognition of the
importance of our technologies in affecting the quality
of life throughout the world,
and in accepting a personal
obligation to our profession, its members, and the
communities we serve, do
hereby commit ourselves to
the highest ethical and professional conduct and agree:
I. To uphold the highest
standards of integrity,
responsible behavior,
and ethical conduct in
professional activities.
1. to hold paramount the
safety, health, and welfare
of the public, to strive to
comply with ethical design
and sustainable developTI-4  | MAR 2020 | THE INSTITUTE

ment practices, to protect
the privacy of others, and
to disclose promptly factors
that might endanger the
public or the environment;
2. to improve the
understanding by
individuals and society
of the capabilities and
societal implications of
conventional and emerging
technologies, including
intelligent systems;
2. 3.  to avoid real or
perceived conflicts of interest
whenever possible, and to
disclose them to affected
parties when they do exist;
4. to engage in lawful
conduct and to reject
bribery in all its forms;

THE CODE OF ETHICS EXPRESSES
EACH IEEE MEMBER'S COMMITMENT
TO THE HIGHEST STANDARDS
OF PROFESSIONAL INTEGRITY
AND ETHICAL CONDUCT.
3. and 7.  5. to seek, accept,
and offer honest criticism
of technical work, to
acknowledge and correct
errors, to be honest and
realistic in stating claims or
estimates based on available
data, and to credit properly
the contributions of others;
5. to improve the
understanding by
individuals and society
of the capabilities and
societal implications of
conventional and emerging
technologies, including
intelligent systems;
6. to maintain and improve
our technical competence
and to undertake
technological tasks for
others only if qualified
by training or experience,
or after full disclosure of
pertinent limitations;
II. To treat all persons
fairly and with respect,
to avoid harassment
or discrimination, and
avoid injuring others.
8.  7. to treat all
persons fairly all
persons and with respect,
and to not engage in acts
of avoid discrimination
based on race, religion,
gender, disability, age,
national origin, sexual

orientation, gender identity,
or gender expression;
8. to avoid harassment of
any kind, including sexual
harassment or bullying
behavior;
9. to avoid spreading
malicious rumors,
defamation, or any other
verbal or physical abuses,
and to avoid injuring others,
their property, reputation,
or employment by false or
malicious action;
III. To strive to ensure
this code is upheld
by colleagues and
co-workers.
10. To support assist 
colleagues and co-workers
in their professional
development and to support
them in following this
code of ethics, to strive to
ensure the code is upheld,
and to not retaliate against
individuals reporting
a violation.
-KRISTEN RUSSELL

Russell is a program
specialist for IEEE Technical
Activities' volunteer
engagement group
This article originally was
published online on 10 January
2020 as "Proposed IEEE Code
of Ethics Revisions."
The Institute - March 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Institute - March 2020
