ACET premieres anti-corruption program

The Global Anti-Corruption Education & Training (ACET) project—a collaborative effort led by a worldwide team of educators, engineering professionals, and communicators—developed Ethicana, a dramatic film and education program. The 41-minute film promotes ethical decision-making among engineers and other professionals in design and construction, as well as portrays how to avoid falling prey to corruption and how to have the moral courage to expose it. Ethicana premieres Nov. 6, 2008, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. during the American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) 138th annual conference in Pittsburgh.

As the centerpiece of the ACET initiative, the film was developed to provide a comprehensive education and training program that emphasizes the importance of individual integrity among all participants in engineering/construction projects. The Global ACET training package will include the Ethicana movie DVD, portraying a variety of difficult decisions encountered by engineers, consultants, contractors, suppliers, and lenders; PowerPoint presentations; a teaching guide; and train-the-trainer materials. Intended for both university and corporate training use, it is anticipated that more than 5,000 sites worldwide will incorporate Ethicana into their engineering ethics education.

Subtitled in 15 languages, Ethicana focuses on corrupt activities that occur in the procurement and performance of engineering and construction work, such as pressures to provide excessive gifts and gratuities, improper political contributions or excessive entertainment, bribery, kickbacks, extortion, blackmail, and falsification of documents. By January 2009, training materials will be available to universities and colleges, engineering and construction firms worldwide, government agencies involved in construction, and private-sector sponsors.

Under the leadership of William P. Henry, 2005 president of ASCE, the ACET project was established in 2006. Sponsors include Fluor Corporation; the United Engineering Foundation; the Washington Division of URS, (formerly Washington Group International); the Asian Development Bank; KBR, Inc. and BE&K, Inc.; Parsons Brinckerhoff; Chicago Bridge & Iron Company; Ernst & Young; Fouad Alghanim & Sons Company; GHD; AECOM Technology Corporation; Balfour Beatty plc; CH2M HILL; Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP; Dwars, Groothoff and Verhey; Granite Construction Inc.; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Institute for Water Resources; Odebrecht Construction; Skanska USA, Inc.; the Cockrell School of Engineering, University of Texas at Austin; and OBERMEYER Planen + Beraten GmbH. Together, project sponsors donated more than $645,000.

In addition to ASCE, other cooperating agencies in support of the Ethicana Project include American Institute of Chemical Engineers; the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers; the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; the Asian Development Bank; the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers; the International Federation of Consulting Engineers; the Institution of Civil Engineers; the Texas Tech University, Murdough Center for Engineering Professionalism and the National Institute for Engineering Ethics; Transparency International; and The World Bank.