Record STMT-M126Voluntary

Responsible Technology

Framework Corporate governancein force

IBM's Responsible Technology and Governance Framework outlines corporate principles, pillars, and impact dimensions for designing, deploying, and governing artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. Governed by the Responsible Technology Board, the framework emphasizes transparency, fairness, robustness, privacy, human agency, societal wellbeing, and environmental sustainability. It is operationalized through the Integrated Governance Program, educational initiatives, open-source toolkits, and software like IBM watsonx.governance.

Summary and content fields are drawn from the document text and are pending editorial review.

Who issued it

International Business Machines CorporationIndustry · US

Lead issuer

Legal forceVoluntary

Under whose authorityCorporate governance

Judged fromfull text

Who it governs

CompaniesAI developers and providersAI deployers and usersResearchers and academics

This document is for IBM stakeholders, clients, partners, and industry observers seeking to understand IBM's internal policies and framework for responsible AI development.

Sectors

Telecommunications and digital services · technology and AI development

What the document contains

What's covered

This document covers IBM's internal corporate governance framework for responsible technology, detailing its guiding principles, pillars of trustworthy AI, impact dimensions, and the operational tools used to enforce them.

What's missing

It does not contain statutory legislation, judicial rulings, or binding regulatory compliance mandates for external entities, nor does it provide detailed technical compliance auditing criteria.

Key takeaways

IBM's approach to responsible technology integrates principles, pillars, and governance across people, processes, and technology.
The Responsible Technology Board provides governance, standards, and practical application of principles for AI and emerging technologies.
Trustworthy AI pillars focus on transparency, fairness and human value alignment, robustness, and privacy.
Impact dimensions emphasize human agency, societal wellbeing, and environmental sustainability.
The framework is operationalized through programs like the Integrated Governance Program, educational initiatives, open-source toolkits, and product offerings.

Principles it states

The purpose of Technology is to augment human capabilitiesTechnology should be based on responsible data governanceTechnology should be open and transparent

Outline

· IBM's Approach to Responsible Technology
· How IBM Governs Technology, Responsibly
· Responsible Technology & Governance Framework
· Principles of Trust
· Pillars of Trustworthy AI
· Impact Dimensions
· Governance as the operational backbone
· Risk Atlas Board Best Practices
· Responsibility in action

Issued20 May 2026

Length823 words

FormatNot recorded

Scopeglobal

How it scores

Pending review

Each score is backed by a quote verified against the document text. Editorial review has not yet confirmed them.

Accountability

3/5

Clear responsibility for AI outcomes

IBM’s approach to Responsible Technology enables trust, transparency, and accountability to be embedded across how we design, deploy, and govern AI

Balancing innovation and responsibility

screening score · 2026-10-23

Fairness

3/5

Non-discrimination and equitable treatment

AI systems should operate fairly within their intended context, whether making predictions, providing recommendations, generating content, or executing tasks.

Pillars of Trustworthy AI

screening score · 2026-10-23

Human Dignity

3/5

Respect for the inherent worth of persons

Technological solutions should be designed to enhance and extend human capability and potential, while simultaneously enabling humans to take on more value-adding task

Principles of Trust

screening score · 2026-10-23

Human Oversight

3/5

Humans remain in control of consequential decisions

The purpose of Technology is to augment human capabilities Technological solutions should be designed to enhance and extend human capability and potential

Principles of Trust

screening score · 2026-10-23

Privacy

3/5

Protection of personal data and private life

AI systems should be designed and developed in a way that prioritizes and safeguards consumers’ privacy and data rights

Pillars of Trustworthy AI

screening score · 2026-10-23

Transparency

3/5

Openness about how AI systems work and are used

AI systems should be designed and developed to provide explanations and sufficient observability. Information about their development should be available to relevant stakeholders.

Pillars of Trustworthy AI

screening score · 2026-10-23

Enforcement

3/5

Consequences and compliance mechanisms with real force

The Framework is operationalized through IBM’s Integrated Governance Program (IGP), education initiatives such as IBM SkillsBuild, open technologies including Granite Guardian and open‑source toolkits such as AI Fairness 360

Governance as the operational backbone

screening score · 2026-10-23

Impact Assessment

3/5

Required assessment of an AI system's risks/impacts before or during use

The IBM Responsible Technology Board’s Risk Atlas, now integral to watsonx.governance, has helped lead IBM Research advances in AI Governance

Risk Atlas

screening score · 2026-10-23

Topics

ai_ethics corporate_governance responsible_ai transparency fairness robustness