November 2002 - Vol. 45 No. 11

How much privacy are citizens willing to surrender in the interest of public safety?

Software is being used increasingly in systems that affect public safety and where software errors might lead to unacceptable losses. This use has led to suggestions that software engineers working on safety-critical systems should be licensed as Professional Engineers (PEs) in order to protect the public interest. To determine whether the ACM should support such […]

From 1993 through June 2000 ACM worked with the IEEE Computer Society on projects to examine and guide the evolution of software engineering as a profession. This work was originally carried out under the Joint IEEE-CS and ACM Steering Committee for the Establishment of Software Engineering as a Profession. In 1998 the joint committee was […]

The notion of licensing software engineers has been weighed and argued on global, national, and statewide platforms for many years. Here, we go to the frontlines---Texas and Canada---where the practice of licensing is in fact well under way. Sentiments may not have mellowed regarding this subject, but the perspectives we present here are based on real experiences.

In June 1998, the Texas Board of Professional Engineers adopted software engineering as a distinct discipline under which engineering licenses can be issued. The motivation for this decision was the expectation that licensing and the associated regulation of the software engineering profession would lead to substantive improvements in the education of computer software professionals and […]

Such diverse professions as medicine, law, and engineering are self-regulating. In each of these fields: Practitioners deal directly with the general public, most of whom cannot determine whether or not a self-proclaimed expert is qualified to provide the required service. Proper practice requires the practitioner understand an organized body of knowledge and have learned how […]

Here, I argue strongly against licensing for software engineers. I will not be talking in purely philosophical terms. Instead, I will draw concrete lessons from the Canadian experience, where there is a fierce battle under way over the issue of licensing software engineers as professional engineers. This battle has revealed much about licensing and its […]

Following the 2000 presidential election debacle in Florida, government officials promised sweeping reforms that would prevent such chaos from reoccurring. Indeed, the Florida election code was extensively revised, punchcard systems were outlawed, and over $125 million was spent on new voting equipment and training for voters and election administrators. What could possibly go wrong? Apparently […]