The professionalization of software engineering and its significance for ethics education

In May of 1993, the Board of Governors of the IEEE-CS established a steering committee for evaluating, planning, and coordinating actions related to establishing software engineering as a profession. In that same year the ACM Council endorsed the establishment of a Commission on Software Engineering. By January of 1994, both societies formed a joint committee “To establish the appropriate set(s) of standards for professional practice of Software Engineering upon which industrial decisions, professional certification, and educational curricula can be based.” To accomplish these tasks they made the following recommendations: (1) adopt standard definitions; (2) define required body of knowledge and recommended practices; (3) define ethical standards; and (4) define educational curricula for undergraduate, graduate (MS) and continuing education (for retraining and migration)