Re: Accellera and DASC

Ok, let me put it more explicitly. DASC develops EDA standards, and has
an agenda which is set by its parent organisation, the IEEE. Accellera
develops EDA standards, and has an agenda which is set by its members.
These two agendas are different.

This would not normally be a problem, but it appears that some members
of DASC are also officers of Accellera. There is therefore a potential
conflict of interests. This potential conflict needs to be declared by
individual members of DASC, and of NesCom. As a first step, I have asked
Peter if he is aware of any such members. In the longer term, the
procedures should be changed so that members are obliged to make a
declaration of any potential conflicts. It is not sufficient simply to
email Accellera occasionally and ask if any of their officers are also
participating in IEEE standards efforts.

What is a conflict of interests? This is simple. A conflict arises
whenever anyone taking part in an IEEE standardisation process has an
agenda which is not the same as the stated aims of the IEEE. Some
conflicts are obvious, some less so. However, it seems to me that (a)
Accellera funding for the DASC, if there is any, clearly undermines the
DASC's independence and needs to be examined, in detail; and (b)
Accellera officers have a clear conflict of interest when participating
in IEEE standards activities.

Evan Lavelle
Received on Mon Jun 14 09:41:21 2004