Where does SE belong? I have been a licensed software engineer in Canada (where it's the law that you have to be licensed to use the title Engineer) for almost 10 years. Engineers Canada will continue to monitor developments in the professional practice of software engineering and will update its guidelines if/when necessary. Then, during your co-op, you’ll put those skills to work at leading … The Engineering profession is aiming - through existing engineering statutes -to make the practice of "software engineering" illegal by anyone who lacks a "P. The Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB, analogous to our CSAC) wants to accredit all engineering programs - only graduates of CEAB-accredited programs are eligible for "P.Eng." Successful completion of the Engineering as a Profession Exam is required to obtain credit for PDEng15. Here's why: As such students are expected to know the requirements and responsibilities expected of members of the engineering profession. Canada's ongoing disharmony is already causing opportunities for strong SE programs to be lost, human and economic resources in litigation to be dissipated, employers to be confused, the public to be at risk, and our competitive position vis-a-vis global markets to be eroded. To date, there has been no clear statement from the engineering community that they respect our right to practice. This is reinforced by the fact that most engineering Each country is responsible for updating information, on its regulated professions, competent authorities and statistics. The term is probably a shortening of “software engineer,” but its use betrays a secret: “Engineer” is an aspirational title in software development. The Software Engineering Professional Practice knowledge area (KA) is concerned with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that software engineers must possess to practice software engineering in a professional, responsible, and ethical manner. These include regulated professions (e.g., nursing) and skilled trades (e.g., plumbing). 6.02. In Canada, engineering is regulated under provincial and territorial law by the engineering regulators. (One is supposed to be able to take an exam in lieu of being such a graduate, but few if any provincial engineering bodies have bothered to set one.). 6.05. No, software engineering should not require professional certification. Studying a career on information technology can increase your … However, it can and should, make the software engineer more conscious and aware of the ethical ramifications of certain engineering decisions within the process. The Software Engineering Professional Practice knowledge area (KA) is concerned with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that software engineers must possess to practice software engineering in a professional, responsible, and ethical manner. computer science community. “Just as practicing professionals such as doctors, accountants, and nurses are licensed, so should software engineers,” Thornton says. Many licensed engineering practitioners in the traditional engineering disciplines are grounded in Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board accredited programs and the scope, practices and standards for these disciplines are well-defined. Recently the engineering community has sought to restrict who has the right to teach it, and even more importantly, has intimated their intention to restrict who has the right to practice what the engineering profession deems to be software engineering. Regulated occupations: An occupation controlled by provincial and territorial (and sometimes federal) law, and governed by a regulatory body.About 20 per cent of jobs are in regulated occupations. Right now there is no formal licensing for software engineering. Thus, computer scientists as well as engineers should retain both the right to title and the right to practice. The IEEE Computer Society and the ACM, the two main US-based professional organizations of software engineering, publish guides to the profession of software engineering. The Complaints Committe… The answers to questions from the EAP Study Guide. Graduation from an accredited program reduces the years of experience a CIPS member needs to become certified as an Information System Professional of Canada (I.S.P.). In some parts of the US such as Texas, the use of the term Engineer is regulated by law and reserved only for use by individuals who have a Professional Engineer license. The average software engineer could earn up to $5,016,723 for a career that could last 40 years, with an annual salary of around $125,418. Software engineering is a relatively young discipline. This is unlike other industries (law and medicine being examples as cited in the question). And conversely, experience should document how ignoring the SWEBOK tends to cause harm. “a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software”). Note: This Fact Sheet was developed by Manitoba Education and Training, Immigration and Economic Opportunities Division. You Enjoy Teamwork. Until such a body of knowledge develops and is shown to be essential for competent practice in the field, restricting theory and practice through legally enforced measures is inappropriate and counterproductive, and ironically could harm the public (e.g., by excluding vital expertise). The SWEP was comprised of an impartial chair and one representative from each of science academia, engineering academia, the engineering profession, and the IT profession (Paul Bassett represented CIPS). On September 21, 1999 the lawsuit against Memorial University was halted with a 10point agreement that included a five-year moratorium from litigating the use of CCPE's official marks - "engineer" and "engineering" - and the establishment of the Software Engineering Panel (SWEP). The recommendations contained in the national guidelines, and Engineers Canada papers may be adopted by the engineering regulators in whole, in part, or not at all. The implementation of such an ethical framework can overcome the traditional dichotomy between professional skills and ethical skills, which plagues the engineering professions, by proposing an … The CCPE recommends each provincial engineering Act contain this definition: —The ”practice of professional engineering‘ means any act of planning, designing, composing, evaluating, advising, reporting, directing or supervising, or managing any of the foregoing, that requires the application of engineering principles, and that concerns the safeguarding of life, health, property, economic interests, the public welfare or the environment.“ The CCPE also recommends this exemption (… denote extraneous words): —Nothing … shall prevent an individual who … holds a recognized honours degree or higher in one or more of the … computer … sciences … from practicing … any act (including management) requiring the application of scientific principles, competently performed.“ CCPE does not define the meanings of —engineering principles“ and —scientific principles“, rendering the definitions sufficiently circular that provincial and territorial associations may deem a fairly arbitrary class of activities to be professional engineering. In some professions and trades it is illegal to work or even use the title of the profession or trade if you are not registered with the regulatory body. To wit: In summary, we encourage computer scientists and engineers to work together wherever feasible, to teach and do research in this very important emerging field. They alleged MUN's use of "software engineering" (SE) in the name of its SE program infringed their trademarks because it was delivered by the computer science department rather than engineering. Under Alberta’s Engineering and Geoscience Professions Act [pdf], you must be a registered member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) to practice as a Professional Engineer or engage in the practice of engineering. A unique Engineers Canada program designed to continually improve the transparency and effectiveness of the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB). 1-11. (This could be done by including exclusionary clauses in the various acts in the country, which is not without precedent.) there is a reasonable expectation that failure or inappropriate functioning of the system would result in harm to life, health, property, economic interests, the public welfare or the environment). The undergraduate programs at the University of Waterloo are accredited engineering programs. Last but not least, while we strongly encourage professionalism through accreditation and certification, employers should be able to recruit and employ whomever they deem best for their needs, to decide for themselves the qualifications necessary in a software engineer without outside interference. In the UK, the British Computer Society (BCS) is the only chartered professional institution for the field of information systems engineering. (The key issue here is the need to understand that Software engineering's roots and core concepts are clearly in Computing and Information Technology, and not the other way around. What is a regulated or non-regulated occupation? The BCS is also an Engineering Institution, fully licensed by the Engineering Council to nominate Chartered and Incorporated Engineers, and to accredit university courses and training schemes. Such a privilege involves obligations towards the Québec public. The regulation and enforcement of software engineering practice has proven to be a difficult task, because activities such as software programming may often appear to overlap with software engineering. Some career choices are fairly solitary because they require you to work all on … The Engineering profession is aiming - through existing engineering statutes -to make the practice of "software engineering" illegal by anyone who lacks a "P. Software engineering is a relatively young discipline. In July 2000, the Panel issued a unanimous report. As the lead, the CSAB identifies and trains SE-program evaluators, and sets the SE program-specific criteria, which are managed and administered by the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC), and must remain consistent with the EAC's general engineering criteria. Licensing by a provincial or territorial association of professional engineers is required to approve engineering drawings and reports and to practise as a Professional Engineer (P.Eng.). Consider your priorities, your resources and your goals. The university and computer science (CS) communities are disputing such restrictions. But the average computer/software engineering student might still be confused about how and why this requirement should apply to them. Given there was little or no effort to get the various stakeholder groups to "buy into" the SWEP's report, no one should have been surprised when the Task Force proposals hit an impasse. Note: CIPS is transitioning to a new website and some links may currently take you to cipsresources.ca. The BCS exists to provide service and support to the IS community, including individual practitioners, employers of IS staff and the general public. On this issue CIPS strongly opposes the CCPE, and asks members to use their resources and contacts to resist CCPE's well financed intent. 6.03. 6.04. CIPS is heavily involved in both the academic and professional aspects of IT. In 2020, six of Canada’s engineering regulators celebrate their hundredth anniversaries. Licensing and Certification. Right on the heels of the SWEP came its successor, the "SE Task Force" (Paul Bassett again represented CIPS), mandated to translate the recommendations into specific proposals for accomplishing joint CSAC/CEAB accreditation. Some professions and trades are regulated in Canada to protect public health and safety. Eng." Eng." In the United States, the practice of professional engineering is highly regulated and the title "professional engineer" is legally protected, meaning that it is unlawful to use it to offer engineering services to the public unless permission, certification or other official endorsement is specifically granted by that state through a professional engineering license. But the ACM later withdrew its support because the IEEE intended the SWEBOK to be required for licensing: —the ACM Council decided in May 1999 that it could not support licensing of software engineers. As a result, both CSAC and CEAB independently accredit SE programs mounted within their separate constituencies, and the issues behind the lawsuit remain unresolved. If Software Engineering exists in some intersection between Computing and Engineering then people from both areas should have the right to such titles.) A duty. |  Website Privacy Policy  |  Website Terms of Use, 2019 Consultation on the Curriculum content measurement: Beyond the AU Engineers Canada paper, National Engineering Guidelines and Engineers Canada, Indigenous Peoples’ Access to Post-Secondary Engineering, Infrastructure Resilience Professional (IRP), INWED 2020: How women in engineering are responding to the COVID-19, Engineers’ role in Canada’s long-term economic recovery post-COVID-19, Engineers Canada's Paper on professional practice in software engineering, Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge. Enforcement and compliance officials are referred to, For a further exploration of the scope and depth of the software engineering discipline, Engineers Canada recommends the Canadian Engineering Qualifications Board. What is a regulated or non-regulated occupation? These include regulated professions (e.g., nursing) and skilled trades (e.g., plumbing). Software engineering still has no commonly accepted body of knowledge. To help celebrate National Engineers Week, we partnered with Project Lead the Way on this fun quiz to help you learn a little more about what engineering has to offer.