ICT Ethics in the Workplace

Greetings from the last day of the ET GOVICT2008 conference. Mr. Mark Haughey CIO, Workplace Authority, talked on "The Uncertainty of Ethics in IT". Mark brought the conference back to reality by discussing his experience as an IT professional in the public service. He emphasized value for money and planning. I asked him he thought ICT professionals have an ethical responsibility for reducing greenhouse emission through reducing energy use. He responded that this was also a practical problem with high power servers upsetting building air conditioning by creating hotspots. Idris Sulaiman from Computers Off, pointed out there were some new guidelines on this.

Ms. Cecilia Ridgley School of Information Technology and Electrical
Engineering UNSW@ADFA, ICT Advisory Services, KPMG Canberra talked about "The Decision Disconnect - Ethics and ICT Governance". Cecilla put the ICT Governance AS8015 in the business context. She talked about the difference between hard hierarchal crystal organization structures and fluid amoebic structures. Language, learning and leadership can be used for governance.

Dr. Daryl Macer, Regional Adviser, Regional Unit for Social and Human
Sciences (RUSHAP) in Asia and the Pacific, UNESCO, challenged our ideas of who and what ethics apply to. He used examples from science fiction, such as HAL and Japanese comic books, such as Astro Boy. Dr. Macer related infoethics to bioethics, suggesting the work on ethics in medicine, such as the "Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and on Human Rights", could be largely applied to information technology ethics. He also mentioned the "Ethics of Energy Technologies in Asia and the Pacific Project". Unfortunately I couldn't find a web site for the project, if someone could point this out, that would be good.

Phillip N. Argy, Deputy Chairman – ACS Foundation, Chief Executive – ArgyStar.com, talked on "Trusted vs. Trustworthy – how professionalism bridges the ethics gap". He cited a software problem which caused a Boeing 777 flight out of Perth to turn back. Philip is one of the WIPO arbitrators and one of his cases I noticed was on ownership of "The Wiggles" web address.

Justice Kirby on Regulating Technology

Greetings from the evening session of ET GOVICT2008 conference. The speaker is Justice Michael Kirby, High Court of Australia on The Challenge of Regulating Contemporary Technology. He started by addressing the issue of HIV/Aids. He argued you can't simply regulate on a technical level, separate from culture and this applies to ICT. Justice Kirby commented that most lawyers are not interested in technology and science. He has been involved in bioethics with UNESCO , TELOS at the University of London. He also cited Roger Brownsword's new book Rights, Regulation, and the Technological Revolution.

He then discussed the different viewpoints on privacy issues between Europeans and and Americans in the OECD Principles for the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data. He argued that consensus is possible, even in such contentious issues. One problem with such principles he pointed out is that not long after the principles were defined, along came networked public computer systems making data widely available with few limits. The technology moves fast and principles need to keep up. He quoted from Roger Brownsword's book on the relative priorities of regulation of different technologies.

I asked the Justice how Australian lawyers would cope with the type of online arbitration process used by WIPO. He joked that this might be a job for him next year when he retires from the bench and more seriously commented that lawyers should look to technology to help with processes but some serendipity may be lost in the process. One example of a happy accident he mentioned was that research on disease in monkeys had lead to an AIDS vaccine (the recent failure of a trial of the vaccine did not diminish from the value of the attempt).

There is a transcript and video of a talk by Justice Kirby to the IIA in February when he covered some of the same issues.

Professional Bodies and ICT Governance

Greetings from the ET GOVICT2008 conference on the ethical governance of ICT, in Canberra. John Ridge, Executive Director of the ACS Foundation, gave the opening address. This two day conference is on at University House, Australian National University, 1 - 2 May 2008. Anyone can come along, pay the modest fee and join in.

The conference has researchers and practitioners looking at ethical governance, governance of ethics, of Information and Communication Technology, and the role of professional bodies.

John has started by raising the issue of qualifications and the difference between a practitioner and a professional. He cited the new book: Ethics in ICT: An Australian Perspective. McDermid, D. C. (2003) Pearson Educational: Melbourne. He points out that the ACS meets most of the requirements which McDermid lists. He argues that ICT is not ready to have the next logical step, which is registration. He also asserts that ICT people do not value being part of being a profession. He lamented that the take-up rate of initiatives such as ACS's certification program.

Professor Don Gotterbarn argued that discussion of professionalism of ICT was the "same old same old". He went through the history of ethics and professional codes in the USA and UK, relating this to the Australian situation.

Dr. Richard Lucas reported research on what Australian ICT people actually thought of ethics and codes. This is a refreshing and revolutionary approach to the issue. Rather than theorize about what might work, CAPPE has collected actual quantitative evidence about what people will accept. This is not a new idea in other fields, for example to see if consumers can tell one brand of car from another, a group of them are asked. In retrospect, it seems to do the same with professional conduct.

Some later topics:

• licensing and accreditation of ICT professional
• education of ICT professionals
• governance of policies and procedures concerning ethics in the ICT industry
• the ethical content of standards, methodologies, and the processes used by the ICT industry
• the place of government regulations
• the role of professional organisations.

Keynote Speakers are Professor Simon Rogerson, Director of the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility, DeMontfort University, UK and Professor Don Gotterbarn, Software Engineering Ethics Research Institute, East Tennessee State University - ICT Governance and What to Do About the Toothless Tiger(s): Professional Organisations and Codes of Ethics.

The Conference is sponsored by The Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, The Australian Computer Society, ARC Governance Research Network, The Australian National University, Charles Sturt University and UNESCO.

EtGovICT
1-2 May 2008
List of Presenters
Name Title and Association Title of Paper
John Ridge ACS Foundation Opening Address

Justice Michael Kirby AC
CMG
High Court of Australia The Challenge of Regulating Contemporary Technology

Professor Don Gotterbarn Director, Software Engineering Ethics Research Institute,
East Tennessee State University
ICT Governance and what to do about the toothless tiger(s): Professional
Organizations and Codes of Ethics

Professor Simon Rogerson Director, Centre for Computing and Social
Responsibility, De Montfort University, UK The Role of Governance in Sensitising ICT Development

1 Mr. Mark Haughey CIO, Workplace Authority The Uncertainty of Ethics in IT

2 Professor Shirley Gregor ANU Endowed Chair in Information Systems, Director
National Centre for Information Systems Research,
School of Accounting and Business Information Systems,
ANU
Ethics education of ICT professionals

3 Ms. Cecilia Ridgley School of Information Technology and Electrical
Engineering UNSW@ADFA,
ICT Advisory Services, KPMG Canberra
The Decision Disconnect - Ethics and ICT Governance

4 Dr. Daryl Macer Regional Adviser, Regional Unit for Social and Human
Sciences (RUSHAP) in Asia and the Pacific, UNESCO
Office in Bangkok
The relationship of IT ethics and governance to the broader conduct and ethics of science and technology

5 Phillip N. Argy
B Com LLB FACS HLM
MAICD
Immediate Past President – Australian Computer Society
Deputy Chairman – ACS Foundation
Chief Executive – ArgyStar.com
Trusted vs. Trustworthy – how professionalism bridges the ethics gap

6 Professor John Weckert
Dr. Richard Lucas
Research Fellow, CAPPE, ANU
Professorial Fellow, CAPPE, CSU Ethics and Regulation in the ICT Industry 2007 Survey: An Overview

7 David Lindley Ph.D.
MACS PCP
Bob Hart MACS PCP
Academic Principal, ACS Education, Australian
Computer Society
Manager: Professional Standards & Development
Australian Computer Society
Educating for Professionalism: An ACS Perspective

8 Ms Marghanita da Cruz
BSc
Principal Consultant Ramin Communications Pty Ltd
(ramin.com.au) No duty of Care: the Governance of ICT

9 Sheryle Moon CEO, AIIA Ethics and ICT Governance from an industry perspective

10 Associate Professor Craig McDonald
University of Canberra Ethics by Design: embedding ethics in ICT Governance

11 Clive V. Boughton Australian National University - Education and Research
of Software Engineering Practices,
Senior Member of ACS,
Committee Member on Certification for Australian
Safety Critical Systems Association (aSCSa),
Member ACM,
Member IEEE-CS
What IS an ICT professional anyway?

12 Mr. Neville Holmes University of Tasmania An Ethical Imperative for the Computing Profession

ICT Governance and Ethics Conference

A Conference on the Ethical Governance of ICT and the Role of Professional Bodies is 1-2 May 2008 in Canberra. This will feature the research funded by the Australian Computer Society, which I have used in my lectures on ICT ethics at ANU.

ET GOVICT2008
A Conference on the Ethical Governance of ICT and the Role of Professional Bodies
1-2 May 2008
held at
University House, Australian National University

This is a two day conference that will examine issues related to the ethical governance, governance of ethics, of Information and Communication Technology, and the role of professional bodies.

The conference will cover issues related to – the governance of ICT in particular, the industry as a whole, industry businesses, ICT within organisations, ICT projects, and ICT professional bodies.
Individual topics may include:

• licensing and accreditation of ICT professionals,
  
• education of ICT professionals,
  
• governance of policies and procedures concerning ethics in the ICT industry,
• the ethical content of standards, methodologies, and processes used by the ICT industry,
• the place of government regulations, and
• the role of professional organisations.

The opening address will be given by John Ridge the Executive Director and inaugural Chairman of the ACS Foundation.

The keynote speakers are:

• Prof. Simon Rogerson the Director of the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility at DeMontfort University in the UK who will speak on The role of governance in sensitising ICT development and
  
• Prof. Don Gotterbarn of the Software Engineering Ethics Research Institute at East Tennessee State University who will speak on Ict Governance and What to Do About the Toothless Tiger(s): Professional Organisations and Codes of Ethics.

For more information concerning the conference contact: Dr. Richard Lucas – Richard.Lucas@anu.edu.au or Professor John Weckert – jweckert@csu.edu.au

Registration Details

For enquiries about registration and related matters contact

Andrew Long – Andrew.Long@anu.edu.au

Cost: There is a nominal conference registration fee of AU$50 to cover morning/afternoon tea and lunch.

Register By Date: 16 April 2008

The conference is generously supported by: The Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, the Australian Computer Society, ARC Governance Research Network, the Australian National University, and UNESCO.

From: Ethical Governance of ICT and the Role of Professional Bodies, CAPPE, 2008