The Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) and the largest global professional association for engineers, the Institute of Electrical Electronics Engineers Incorporated (IEEE), will collaborate in the future to promote more sustainable and ethical standards in software development.

Today they signed a cooperation agreement at the annual conference of the Global Design Thinking Alliance (GDTA) on the topic of "Responsible Innovation in Times of Uncertainty". At events as well as in research and student projects, both parties intend to work together on value-based design and ethical standards in the development of digital systems. Furthermore, they plan to develop a certification program for the application of the in-development IEEE P7000™ standard in organizations.

The "IEEE P7000: IEEE Draft Model Process for Addressing Ethical Concerns During Systems Design" is the first international ethical standard established to enable programmers to consider ethical issues in the development of IT systems right from the start. This also includes the question how sustainable the software itself is. Already today, the CO2 footprint of digitization is increasing massively. The "clean-IT initiative" aims to research new "efficient algorithms" and to strengthen the principle of "sustainability by design" in the development of software products.

"Digitalization challenges many old rules and raises new ethical questions. At the same time, digitalization is becoming the number one climate killer, so I am looking forward to a fruitful cooperation with our colleagues at the IEEE, in which we at HPI can contribute and expand our expertise in clean IT," said Professor Christoph Meinel, Director of the Hasso Plattner Institute, at the signing ceremony.

Professor Ulrich Weinberg, Director of the HPI School of Design Thinking, adds: “We are very excited about the cooperation with IEEE and the chance to participate in the development and implementation of the IEEE P7000 standard with the clean-IT-initiative and Design Thinking. In recent years, Design Thinking has steadily evolved from innovation methodology to a toolset for re-designing processes and entire organizations. The people-centered approach makes HPI and the School of Design Thinking an ideal partner for the implementation of the new standard and the Global Design Thinking Alliance GDTA will carry the new canon of values into the world.”

“We are very happy to collaborate with HPI and its associated systems design schools organisations. Adding a layer of practical reflection and guidance around important contextual aspects to technology - such as transparency, respect of our sphere of privacy, accountability and avoidance of bias - is growing more and more crucial in systems-design thinking,” underlined Dr. Konstantinos Karachalios, Managing Director of IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA). “Experience shows that these issues are most effectively and efficiently dealt with from the outset of the design and development process and not after introduction of systems and services into the marketplace.”

About the IEEE Standards Association

IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA) is a collaborative organization where innovators raise the world's standards for technology. IEEE SA provides a globally open, consensus-building environment and platform that empowers people to work together in the development of leading-edge, market-relevant technology standards and industry solutions shaping a better, safer and sustainable world. For more information, please visit https://standards.ieee.org.