2022 IFBEC Highlights

For over twelve years the International Forum on Business Ethical Conduct (IFBEC) has provided an opportunity for companies within the aerospace and defense (A&D) industries to exchange information on best practices in the areas of ethical business practices and global trends. IFBEC has strengthened commitments to ethical conduct with A&D throughout the globe through public events discussing best practices, industry wide initiatives, and providing a forum for our industry to communicate efforts made within the industry. 2022 IFBEC efforts include:

• Western Hemisphere Initiative: In cooperation with Brazilian companies, IFBEC has launched an initiative to establish ethical guidelines for the Western hemisphere. The initiative has developed consensus based best practices regarding anti-corruption, a supplier code of conduct, and business courtesies and hospitalities. The documents were unveiled at the Brazilian Defense Industrial Base conference, Mostra BID, in December 2022. The recent launch will promote future opportunities for IFBEC, including potential discussions at the Latin American Defense and Security Exhibition (LAAD) in April 2023.

• Industry Benchmarking: In May 2022, IFBEC members conducted a live benchmarking exercise regarding effective E&C programs for the virtual and hybrid workforce. After collection and analysis, IFBEC presented the results of the survey via webinar to all IFBEC members, providing a unique insight into current international standards for our industry.

• Webinars: IFBEC conducted additional webinars focused on the importance of ethics and governance on a company’s sustainability, a tutorial on the IFBEC website launch and members only portal, and ethics and compliance in India.

• Member Portal Website Launch: In August 2022, IFBEC launched their redesigned website designed with the needs of our members in mind. The overall platform that is easier to navigate, and includes more user-friendly with new features including a private IFBEC member forum to increase engagement and offer live discussions between members, as well as a library of relevant industry documents and a calendar to view the latest industry events and upcoming IFBEC webinars.

• NATO Building Integrity: IFBEC members continued to work with NATO on its Building Integrity programme, giving NATO access to both IFBEC and member company best practice materials and providing speakers to NATO training events and other forums. In December 2022, IFBEC member and Steering Committee member, Steven Pegg of Lockheed Martin Corporation represented IFBEC at the 2022 NATO Building Integrity Conference.

• New Membership: In 2022, IFBEC proudly welcomed Nexter Group as a new member. Nexter Group is focused to meet the needs of French and foreign land forces by designing, developing, producing, and supporting complete and innovative defense systems.

• 2022 IFBEC Annual Conference: In September 2022, IFBEC hosted our first in person conference within three years in Arlington, VA with participants from across the globe. This year’s two-day conference provided a forum for industry experts to discuss key topics in ethics and network with their industry peers. Trending issues discussed included human rights, reducing risk with AI and emerging technologies, the latest challenge in anti-corruption and updates on the EU Whistleblower Directive. Speakers came from academia, NGOs, and industry experts.

In addition to efforts discussed above, IFBEC continually provides speaking engagement opportunities to our member companies with government and external stakeholders. This raises the ethical profile of individual member companies and positively impacts the entire industry. These engagements and our ongoing projects are how IFBEC will continue to deliver on our mission to strengthen the practice of business ethics for aerospace and defense. Please visit the IFBEC website for more information.

Thank you,

Kelvin Stroud, Executive Director, IFBEC I kelvin.stroud@aia-aerospace.org

Bry Spinella, Executive Secretariat and Director of Membership, IFBEC I bry.spinella@aia-aerospace.org