PNNL

Jon Barr, senior systems engineer at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, recently passed his IEEE CertifAIEd assessor application and interview. IEEE CertifAIEd was developed as a certification program to enable assessments related to ethics of autonomous intelligent systems (AIS) that will help protect, differentiate, and grow adoption. Barr, now a CertifAIEd lead assessor, will have the ability to guide organizations through a systematic ethical review of their AIS.

IEEE has over 427,000 members in more than 190 countries and continues to grow. According to IEEE, the CertifAIEd program objective is to enable, enhance, and reinforce trust through AI ethics specifications, training, criteria, and certification. It stems from the rationale that an entity benefits from an independent ethical evaluation and certification of its AIS.

Barr is a certified systems engineer who has worked extensively with the stakeholders across the national security community. He has a broad technical background—including degrees in mechanical engineering and materials science, as well as a graduate certificate in medical sciences—which provides for a strong footing on many technology spaces. Much of Barr’s current focus is on engaging communities to better understand both current and near future needs to drive and develop the next generation technologies to support those needs.

Due to Barr’s qualifications and experience, he was deemed a “lead assessor,” which is the highest level of capability and jurisdiction afforded to a CertifAIEd assessor. There are only a handful of professionals with this level of certification.