-----Original Message----- From: Barrie Thompson [mailto:barrie.thompson@sunderland.ac.uk] Sent: quarta-feira, 17 de Abril de 2002 12:29 To: augusto.casaca@inesc.pt; hrudin@smile.ch; reinhard.posch@iaik.at; leduc@montefiore.ulg.ac.be; samir.tohme@enst.fr; guy.pujolle@lip6.fr; hp@csc.ncsu.edu; takahashi@kyotou.ac.jp; aruni@us.ibm.com; rboutaba@bbcr.uwaterloo.ca; olli.martikainen@necsom.com; slavik@mailsserv.testcom.cz; harmen.r.van-as@tuwien.ac.at; tschammer@fokus.fhg.de Subject: IFIP and Professional standards in Software Engineering

Dear IFIP TC6 Chair/Vice Chair/Secretary and Officers of the TC6 Workimg Groups

I apologise for any cross postings/communications

I am the Vice Chair of WG3.4 which is concerned with Professional and Vocational Education in Information Technology. During the last two years I have been involved in a number of international activities concerned with the promotion , within the field of Software Engineering,

of proposals made in an IFIP document entitled “Harmonization of Professional Standards”. The next of these activities will be an International Summit on Software Engineering Professionalism which will be held on Monday 20th May 2002. This event is co-located with the International Conference on Software Engineering.

I would greatly appreciate if you could bring the following invitation to the summit to the attention of those who you believe may like to be involved in it.

Thanking you in advance

Prof. J. Barrie Thompson

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

An Invitation to Attend the International Summit on Software Engineering

Professionalism (SSEP)

A Special One-Day Event to be held on Monday May 20th 2002 Co-Located with the International Conference on Software Engineering Orlando, Florida, USA, May 19-25, 2002

Information: http://www.cet.sunderland.ac.uk/ssep/

Registration is via the ICSE 2002 web site: http://www.icse-conferences.org/2002/

Also visit: http://www.icse-conferences.org/2002/info/colocated.html

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The summit will continue work, undertaken in 2000 and 2001, to promote consideration and evaluation of a document entitled the “Harmonization of Professional Standards” that had been produced under the auspices of the International Federation for Information Processing. A copy of the IFIP Harmonization document can be found at: http://www.cet.sunderland.ac.uk/ssep/

This previous work included workshops in 2001 at the International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE2001) and the Conference on Software Engineering Education and Training (CSEE&T 2001). The latter was held in Charlotte North Carolina in February 2001 the results of this have been reported in depth in a paper published in Education and Information Technologies Volume 6 Number 4 December 2001. A clear outcome of these activities is that the document produced by IFIP can provide an effective framework for the harmonisation of Software Engineering professionalism BUT…! The IFIP document does contain relevant concepts and a useful framework which is acceptable within a range of geographical locations, but there is a significant level of detail that is missing which needs to be added to enable its effective use. To supply the missing details we must: - Try and build up a truly international view and be sensitive to local situations. - Get accurate data and find out what the situation is across the world both in the areas of professional practice and educational structures.

The prime aim of this summit is to provide a forum to consider global aspects of a Software Engineering profession that are relevant to the following four areas highlighted by IFIP: 1. Education and Training 2. Professional experience 3. Best Practice and Proven Methodologies 4. Maintenance of Competence

Attendees of the summit are requested to submit short position papers (a

maximum of 3 pages) that address one or more of the above topic areas by

10th May. Papers should include proposals regarding what needs to be produced to support the relevant sections in the IFIP document. These position papers and the activities at the summit should enable opinions to be formed on: - What are the key steps in a career in Software Engineering ? - What education and training are needed? - How should professional behaviour be regulated? - How is competence maintained and certified?

Are you interested in Software Engineering professionalism and ensuring global standards? If so please contact one of the organisers for the summit for more details: Barrie Thompson or Helen Edwards: sweng@sunderland.ac.uk or alternatively from: barrie.thompson@sunderland.ac.uk or helen.edwards@sunderland.ac.uk School of Computing and Technology, University of Sunderland, St Peter's

Way, Sunderland SR6 0DD, United Kingdom.

Remember if we don’t define the profession and what counts then eventually the lawyers and the courts will do it for us!

---------------------------------------------------------------------

The following can be found at: http://www.cet.sunderland.ac.uk/ssep/

A copy of the IFIP Harmonization document A copy of the ICSE2001 workshop report A copy of a draft version of the CSEE&T 2001 workshop report

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------

Brief Information on the IFIP document “Harmonization of Professional Standards”

The IFIP Harmonization document highlights six areas for consideration with regard to professional standards. These are: - Professional Practice - Established Body of Knowledge - Education and Training - Professional experience - Best Practice and Proven Methodologies - Maintenance of Competence

The needs of the first two areas can be seen to be reasonably matched by

existing projects as follows:

Professional Practice: The Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice, details of this are available at the following Web Sites: http://computer.org/tab/seprof/code.htm, and http://computer.org/tab/sweec/SWCEPP

Established Body of Knowledge: the Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge, details of this are available at the SWEBOK Project Web Site: http://www.swebok.org

However, much needs to be done to investigate the needs of the other four areas and this is the purpose of the workshop.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------

You may also be interested in attending a sister one-day event that follows SSEP this is:

The International Summit on Software Engineering Education (SSEE) A Special One-Day Event Devoted to the Development of the Software Engineering Volume of Curriculum 2001. To be held on Tuesday May 21st 2002 Co-Located with the International Conference on Software Engineering Orlando, Florida, USA, May 19-25, 2002

Full information at: http://www.cet.sunderland.ac.uk/ssee/