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Andreas Koumouris
Feb 20, 2022
In Final Submissions
NEED: The Engineering Sector has historically been driven by profit and financial incentives. As per UN SDG #16, there is a need to increase the weight given by the engineering companies to non-profit elements such as People, Planet and Purpose. The Engineering Sector has well-defined guidelines for the Individual Code of Conduct, and for the Collated Engineering Sector (e.g., Global Reporting Initiative). Engineering Practises lack a common ground to compare Engineering Ethics indicators across the wide cross-disciplinary domain and are not universally adapted. Therefore, the Engineering Sector needs to improve the visibility, adaptability and implementation of Engineering Ethics. APPROACH: Our approach towards global visibility, applicability and adoption of “Engineering Ethics” is by: Collaborating with organisations such as Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) to create a summary of Non-financial Auditing techniques, Identifying weighting factors for diverse non-financial criteria to calculate a single measurable index i.e., Engineering Ethics Index or EEI, Creating a database of participating Engineering organisations to network and communicate to learn about the best practises deployed by their peers, compare their index in order to self-evaluate their commitments, and build a support network. DELIVERABLE: Our approach will be delivered via an open source online platform/dashboard that will contain: An easily accessible and understandable summary of auditing methodology for non-financial parameters such as climate action, diversity and inclusion etc., An EEI calculator based on raw measurable number inputs from the users, Graphics to view changes in EEI Ratings across years, highlighting potential areas of improvements and providing expert advice in lacking areas, The space for companies to collaborate and grow their network. This will include sharing goals, ideas, progress and future pathways towards EEI with others. SUCCESS INDICATORS: The above initiative/idea will be deemed successful if we are able to: Make a meaningful long-term collaboration with at least 3-5 organisations that calculate non-financial external auditing parameters e.g. GRI, with a future potential to expand as our network base grows. This collaboration with diverse organisations will help develop the weighting pattern and prioritise assessment parameters. Ensure EEI assimilates at least 5 concept parameters that contribute to the quadruple bottom line by initially evaluating (i) company profile, (ii) ethnic diversity, (iii) gender diversity, (iv) carbon emissions, and (v) financial contribution to Corporate Social Responsibility. Upon successful metric development, we would expand to include additional relevant parameters. Initially, create a Dashboard to include a colour scale for EEI metrics and graphs comparing yearly performance. The platform/Dashboard will grow to provide connections between the company and expert advice. If one company can connect with 5 peer companies within 2 years and discuss their EEI, that will be considered an initial success. The platform will be upgraded to improve user interface and communication among each other upon successful completion. BENEFIT: Our solution to Reshaping Engineering Practises is by creating an open access tool that: Allows companies to easily estimate their current status on Engineering Ethics, Builds a Community of like-minded companies to discuss and share ideas about creating a positive Engineering Environment around Reshaping Ethics Practises, Compare, Connect and Contrast (3Cs) their practises with peer companies on their EEI performance, Will be applicable to all and any type of engineering firm: small, medium and large, and across a variety of industries and supply chains. Team members: Naushita Sharma, Peter Hill, Andreas Koumouris
Team RE22-013
Reshaping Engineering Practises by Promoting “Engineering Ethics”: Creating Engineers with Ethics (EwE) content media
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Andreas Koumouris
Feb 10, 2022
In Concept Notes Workspace
Issue Being Addressed: Engineering companies are at the forefront of technical problem solving across all domains. However, due to modern business practices and focus on capital growth to please shareholders rather than the wider communities, the societal betterment may not be a part of their overall strategy or be only mentioned to fulfill Public Relations (PR) obligations. This can be seen in situations where ethics and morals have been thrown out in the pursuit of capital. For example, Cambridge Analytica’s Revelations with Facebook (now Meta)’s data breach and Spotify’s recent action regarding Joe Rogan’s Spread of COVID-19 related misinformation. In both these cases, there were instances where there were differing opinions among the top-brass about various approaches that lead to conflicts, poor PR and reduced morale of the employees. How do we tackle harmful business practices in engineering companies and change the thinking of boardrooms to a more ethical mindset? The proposal is to create a training module that includes and promotes “Ethical Best Practices” among the Senior Management of Tech Companies to encourage open discussion, hearing voices across the company for a holistic growth of the company. This training module will be first advertised to External organizations like EWB to reach a wider audience of Technology Companies. Quantifying Success: After a certain time-frame (annually) of conducting the Training, the company will be responsible for delegating an Ethics Champion or Group to evaluate Company progress towards promoting SDGs and report annually. Benefit: By promotion of ethical values and practices, companies investing in these would feel the benefit from a more positive work environment for employees, greater PR recognition as a force for good through association with a professional institution “seal of approval”. These will directly impact on growth and cost saving by creating a company more sought after to work for and engage with and also reduce turnover of staff.
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Andreas Koumouris

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