Ingenieurs Sans Frontieres in France: From Humanitarian Ideals to Engineering Ethics

This paper discusses about the French non-governmental organization (NGO) "Ingenieurs Sans Fronfieres" (ISF) which was the first institutional endeavor of humanitarian engineering in France. The group's manifold difficulties and a profound identity crisis have prompted significant debates in the organization about humanitarian ethics and the role of technology in society. These debates, in turn, have led to an original approach towards engineering ethics and a wider concern about the social responsibility of engineers, as embodied in the concept of the "citizen engineer".