IFBEC 2023 Highlights

For more than an decade, 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 business ethics 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. 2023 IFBEC efforts include:

·       Industry Benchmarking: In March 2023, IFBEC members conducted a live Self-ID Benchmarking exercise. After collection and analysis, IFBEC presented the results of the survey via email to all IFBEC members, providing a unique insight into current international standards for our industry.

·       Webinars: IFBEC conducted additional webinars focused on Ethics Officer benchmarking, and ethics and compliance in China and the Republic of South Korea.  

·       NATO Building Integrity: IFBEC members continued to work with NATO on its Building Integrity programme, giving NATO access to IFBEC member companies to update on different initiatives. This year we were pleased to have Richard Brewin from NATO Headquarters speak on sustainability and its impact on peace & security.

·       2023 IFBEC Annual Conference: In October 2023, IFBEC hosted the annual conference in Toulouse, France with participants from across the globe. The conference was co-hosted by Airbus and included a tour of the A350 assembly plant. 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.

·       Chair and Vice Chair Leadership Transition: Courtney Wallize of Northrop Grumman Corporation has led as IFBEC Chair from 2021 – 2023 and we deeply appreciate her hard work and commitment to the organization as Chair. Beginning in 2024, Petter Törnquist of Saab will lead IFBEC as Chair with Steven Pegg of Lockheed Martin Corporation as IFBEC Vice Chair. We look forward to continuing to strengthen IFBEC’s role as the convener of ethics and compliance in the Aerospace and Defense industry.

Additionally, we would like to also note a staff leadership transition. Kelvin Stroud has led IFBEC the past seven years, transforming IFBEC from an annual event focused organization to one with ongoing programming and regular projects. He is pleased to announce his successor, Bry Spinella, who has been part of the IFBEC team the past two years and continue to support and elevate IFBEC’s standing in the community.

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