Expectations

In order to maintain good standing in the GBA, the following expectations are established so that our organization has a consistent understanding and application of our ethics statement.  We require all GBA members to adhere to the following standards of conduct:

Disclosure, Confidence & Integrity

• While it is understood that members of the GBA must adhere to certain non-disclosure and security requirements of their respective organization, deceptive communications are not permitted by any member of the GBA.  Communications regarding state or trade secrets should not be inquired of, discussed, or disclosed in any GBA forum.  Communications should be limited to those appropriate in an open forum.  Consequently the communications in a GBA forum should have integrity and be relied on as statements of truth.
• We expect all potential conflicts of interest to be reported to the interested parties so that full disclosure can mitigate unintended perceptions of ill intent.
• GBA members are expected to represent their capabilities, affiliations, limits and constraints fully and faithfully.  They shall not over inflate their capability to deliver products or services.

Legal & Regulatory Compliance

All GBA members are expected to fully comply with the legal and regulatory requirements of the governments under which jurisdiction they are subject.  This includes:

• Procurement requirements related to the solicitation and award of any government contracts.
• Rules and regulations with respect to gifts, influence, or conflict of interests.
• Members of the GBA are expected to report (to the best of their ability), financial data to their government in accordance with appropriate tax and financial disclosure requirements.

Conflict of Interest (CoI)

• No member of the GBA is permitted to use their influence as a member of any government, company, association, or affiliation in a manner that is “in-conflict-with” their employer, client, or other constituency.  The general rule to be applied would be transparency.  If all of the parties in any engagement or transaction were fully aware of the details of the arrangement, would there be any negative repercussions?  If the answer is yes, there may be a potential violation of this standard of conduct.
• No member of the GBA is allowed to offer, receive, or participate in using gifts or favors to bribe or unduly influence a government contract.

Formal Communication

No member of the GBA may make public (written or oral) statements that advocate:

• Anarchy or the dissolution of governments
• The use of blockchain technology to suppress or subdue basic human rights of any person or people
• Promote any non-GBA Member or organization who may compete with a GBA Corporate or Professional Member