AUTHOR
Bethan Ilett

ABSTRACT

Introduction

For many years governments have developed specific information and communication technology projects. As commercial sectors made available more Information and Communication Technology (ICT) applications and as use of ICTs has increased “bottom-up” by researchers, individuals and groups, so the reach of ICTs has extended, with impact on “top-down” decision-making. Originally sector-specific projects and policies have been integrated into new policy areas, to such an extent that the broad term “Information Society” has been accepted by many decision-makers.

The greater impact of ICTs and related policies is also shown by the now considerable research carried out in these areas by international organisations such as the OECD and ITU who have charted progress in ICT policies in global regions and member states.

The wider-reach and, frequently, the increased complexity of ICT applications have had an impact on a broader cross-section of society. It is therefore more than interesting to inquire as to the ethical impact on individuals and society of government and regional information society policies.

These policies are of course affected by the wider differences in style of government (domestic and external economic policy) of, for example, the largest ICT users – the United States, the European Union and Japan. It is a lifetime’s study to contrast the differences between each “region’s” understanding of “ethics”. This paper attempts only to compare and contrast broad lines of information society policy and ethical “impact”, focusing in particular on the European Union.

Early European Union ICT policies

After twenty years of relatively small European Union ICT programmes and varying degrees of action in individual member states, wider policy recommendations were eventually adopted by member state representatives in 1993. The major White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness And Employment – The Way Forward Into The 21st Century, called for creation of information society policies at EU and member state level, citing ICTs (amongst others) as new technologies crucial to Europe’s economic future. The key to Europe’s success, the report emphasised, would be the competitive development of ICT applications building on the specific cultural diversity of Europe in contrast with Europe’s largest competitors, the USA and Japan.

This was followed up with a rolling plan of specific policies under the umbrella of EU Information Society policy. This has included the creation of various discussion and advisory fora and new infrastructure funding. Telecommunications deregulation is another feature of changing EU information society policy and is due to be achieved (in most member states) by 1998.

Information Society, Ethics and the European Union?

Information Society actions and proposals now affect a large number of EU policies. Whether it be due to public relations “hype” or due to a drive by the Commissioners involved towards a new common European policy, Information Society has become a “buzzword” in Brussels, and on occasions, has been described in almost messianic terms. However, in order to look at the impact of EU policies on individuals and society, and whether indeed sustainable policies can be implemented, specific areas (below) will be looked at with reference to ethical concerns.

As is being recognised more and more frequently in the “business world”, all aspects of life involve ethical decisions to some degree. It is possible to put forward an “ethical impact assessment”, just as social impact and environmental impact assessments are required in a number of Commission research and development tender forms. A sustainable and ethical impact assessment can give a wider, but still objective picture and focus down on specific policies.

It is possible to explore ethical criteria applicable to the value judgements made in policy-decisions where public spending is generally finite! Furthermore these can help clarify which aims and objectives have become predominant and which have been reduced or lost during the policy-making and implementation process.

• Education:

As schools and colleges are encouraged to link to others, it is highly relevant who will be able to build up such an interlinked system in and between member states. As multimedia is being encouraged in schools and partnerships are being built up between the European Commission and multimedia producers, what values will be brought to the classroom in educational software?

It has been suggested in a number of Commission publications that the role of the teacher in an information society is to become that of a coach, guiding the pupil through teaching software. This could lead to a change in teacher-pupil relations which is necessary to explore.

“Lifelong Learning” is commonly referred to in EU Information Society proposals. A question now being asked by policy-makers and those involved in the job market, is how this continuous upgrading and diversifying of skills can be financed and achieved?

• Access and Availability – the “Haves and Have Nots”

A number of commentators have already pointed to the possible centrifugal forces arising out of EMU, whereby peripheral regions are likely to lose out to those at the geographical centre of Europe. However, it has already been EU policy to stimulate the economies of outlying, under-developed and declining regions through the Cohesion and Structural Funds.

Seen in this context, it is of even greater importance to consider the effect of geographical development of ICT infrastructure. The EU has already taken some account of this through its proposals for creation of Trans-European Information Networks, and the recent (October 1997) EU-led international conference on standardisation.

Universal Service Provision has already been discussed by the European institutions with the call for commitments from private providers, however, it is debatable whether this and such small-scale schemes as have been encouraged under the Telematics and TIDE programmes are likely to greatly increase access and availability through EU funds or be adapted and funded by member state initiatives.

• “Flexibility”: With issues of environmental protection, tele-commuting and sustainability in mind, it is useful to look at EU proposals for protection of the increasing number of “flexible” workers. Here, working hours and conditions will be related to impact on individuals and families. This area includes telecottages and here relates to access and availability.
• Freedom of speech v. Freedom from illegal and harmful acts and material: An age-old debate with distinct positions has been waged on free speech and censorship. The international nature of ICT applications has made necessary adaptation of policing, enforcement and legal in criminal cases. However, criminal law criteria balanced between free speech and protection of individuals from illegal and harmful content on the Internet can still be applied.

Each of the European institutions has called for action in this area, particularly with regard to protection of minors and criminal pornography rings, and racist and fascist material. A Commission report prepared in conjunction with non-governmental organisations is due to be presented to the next meeting European Culture Ministers.

Conclusion:

In conclusion the question will be put with regard to the above, are ethics forming an integral part of foundations being set for an “Information Society” in Japan and the USA, and in particular, the European Union?

AUTHOR
David Sanford Horner

ABSTRACT

What does it mean to do one’s duty in the design, implementation and management of information systems? The purpose of the present paper is to propose the continuing relevance of a Kantian approach to this question. I will argue, following Kant, that duty has a central place as the practical and unconditional necessity of action which has its origins neither in empirical motives or laws. At the core of this analysis is Kant’s distinction between categorical and hypothetical imperatives. In particular I will argue the significance and usefulness of Kant’s further distinction between two types of hypothetical imperatives namely ‘rules of skill’ and ‘counsels of prudence’. Kant’s concept of ‘rules of skill’ can be interpreted as referring to imperatives of a technical kind. ‘Rules of prudence’ refer to pragmatic issues of interest and the achievement of desired ends. Hypothetical imperatives thus imply that actions are defined as ‘good’ in relationship to the technical and pragmatic achievement of particular purposes and involve the deployment of specific forms of knowledge. In contrast the categorical imperative implies that conscietientious action arise from a sense of duty, not from any inclination, not even from a neutral desire to enhance human welfare or technical competencies. I will suggest ways in which these different imperatives give rise to competing claims and the awareness of these competing claims can lead to a clarification of the meaning of conscientiousness in professional practice. The Kantian framework, I argue, can be thus put to work to sorting out a number of significant confusions which are evident, for example, in the attempt to derive professional codes of conduct. Similarly such an approach can be fruitful in clarifying issues and principles at stake in decision making and information policy. The paper will, finally, challenge the view that ethical individualism and rationalism are necessarily implicated in rigid proceduralism or some ‘dialectic of enlightenment’.

AUTHOR
Jan Holmqvist

ABSTRACT

In Sweden, as in the rest of the industrialized world, IT is becoming an increasingly important part of everyday life. Also in school, IT is gradually growing in importance, soon to be regarded as an integrated tool in the teaching process. There is today research which indicates positive effects of using IT, with regard to the students school-results. For example, students that are disabled in different ways, can be helped and new kind of information, previously not possible to reach, is available through the Internet.

What should be required of IT in order for it to be called good for school was discussed by the author of this abstract in a paper at the International Computer Ethics Conference at the University of Linköping, 1997. The conclusion was that computers must have an instrumental goodness concerning the knowledge requirements in the curriculum and must also be able to be seen as beneficial for men.

At the same time, the Swedish curriculum both for the Compulsory Basic School and the Upper Secondary School, states that school has to teach, or implement, certain social values. The introductions to the two curriculums state (they are identical in this passage):

The sanctity of human life, the freedom and integrity of the individual, all human beings equal value, equality between men and women and solidarity with the weak and needing are values which school must embody and transfer. In accordance with the ethic coming from Christian tradition and western humanism, this is achieved by the upbringing of the individual to a sense of justice, generosity, tolerance and responsibility.

A question, so far not discussed very much in Sweden, is how IT affects school’s ability to reach the goals concerning the implementation of the social values of the curriculum. It is shown, for example by Winner (1986) and Johnson (1997) that technology carries certain values. Winner says for example that technical systems can affect social relations. He also says that certain technical systems require or are strongly compatible with certain kind of values (in his case political relationships). Johnson , talks about three ways in which values can be said to be embedded in technology. They are embedded in a:

1. Moral / Metaphysical meaning
2. Material meaning
3. Symbolic / Expressive meaning

These theories imply that technology in itself is not value-neutral. It is therefore interesting to examine in what way IT can be said to affect the realization of social values in school.

The purpose of this paper can, with reference to the background given, be stated as follows:

In what way does IT affect, positively or negatively, school’s ability to reach its objectives concerning the implementation of certain social values.

The question will be partly answered by an examination of one of these values in the curriculum, and that is freedom. The examination of the notion of freedom will be carried out in the following way. First, there will be a philosophical study of the notion, it’s meaning and how it can be justified from a deontological and/or teleological position. Secondly, there will be a study of how the notion of freedom is used in the Swedish curriculums (the present, but also some of the historical ones from the 1940th’s and forward). Thirdly, there will be a discussion of how IT can be said to affect the implementation of freedom in school. In this discussion both positive and negative affects will be brought up. The empirical data will be taken from literature about IT and how it affects society in general and especially education on different levels and in different subjects. Winner and Johnson’s definition of how values can be embedded in technology will also be used. Finally, the paper will discuss how and from what position freedom can be realized in the actual setting of schools in Sweden, with IT as an integrated tool in everyday school-life.

AUTHOR
Thomas B. Hodel-Widmer and Ambros P. Luthi

ABSTRACT

Small, middle and large-sized companies have to face the challenge of adapting to the requirements of local and global networks. These digitally networked, ultra-modern structures in work, company and administration radically change our working – lives. According to this, a purely technical and economical approach is not sufficient in our view.

This paper analyzes the rapid development of networked computer systems from an ethical, technological and organizational point of view and illustrate it by empirical data. The main emphasis however is placed on considerations, from the point of view of computer ethics, on the conception of workplaces in the office, which are increasingly reduced to isolated interactions between humans, computers and networks. In order to make better use of these new technologies, ethical / action-oriented guidelines are proposed. In summary we argue, that the organizational structure of computer workplaces should consist of partially autonomous teams, supported by electronic communication tools. A team includes, in opposite of a work group, ethical values like community, excellence, integrity and respect of the individual within the team. The concept of the individual is undoubtedly one of the most important achievements in modern human history. But in our opinion, humanity has reached a point where this concept is rather an impediment to our vision of a ‘more harmonious’ society instead of promoting our aimed goals. Whether we like it or not, we are creatures in need of a certain community. This is why we have to create communities – real teams – in the companies, where we work and spend the most important part of our adult life. Hundreds of justified or unfounded arguments brought up against teams by the company can be minimized using networked computer systems. Flexibility of work-hours and -place can only be reasonably managed in autonomous or partially autonomous teams. Networked computer systems thereby make a reduction of social restraints possible and promote: information flow, decentralized systems, flat hierarchies, self-determination and the right to have a say thus reaching a peak never known or expected. This new dimension is linked to the search of a real community, excellence, personal integrity and respect for the individual. Humans and the environment get back a piece of identity and the companies thereby gain character, profile and a positive climate and culture.

AUTHOR
Paul Hildreth, Chris Kimble and Peter Wright

ABSTRACT

Knowledge has recently been recognised as being an important asset to an organisation, and as such the management of that knowledge has become a hot topic (Amidon 1996, Berghel 1997, Kidd 1994, Lucier 1990, Tricker 1992, Wathne, Roos and von Krogh 1996). A variety of types of knowledge have been discussed, for example tacit and explicit knowledge, (Nonaka date), embodied knowledge, formal knowledge (Fleck and Tierney 1991) and supra individual knowledge (need ref ).

A key part of Knowledge Management is the identification, sharing and development of knowledge (Maglitta 1995, 1996) much of which is an unrecognised resource held in the minds of workers. Supporting the sharing and development of this knowledge provides a new challenge for Information Technology (Manville and Foote 1996). The interest in this paper is not simply the transmission of facts and figures, or codified knowledge but is more to do with how people interact. There is surely a role here for E-mail and other computer mediated communications technologies.

In this paper we are interested in exploring support for one channel of knowledge sharing, namely that which is found in so-called Communities of Practice (Lave and Wenger 1991, Lave 1991) where knowledge is often shared through an apprenticeship system, that is, through shared practice.

Lave and Wenger’s (Lave and Wenger 1991, Lave 1991) examples of Communities of Practice are an example of groups which have a feeling of community due to a common purpose.

Members will probably have some shared background or experience and will share a common language. As new members join the group they learn from the existing members as they work. In such groups the informal lines of communication have been shown to be important for learning to take place and for new knowledge to be created – members will swap experiences and anecdotes and learn from each other (Goldstein 1993, Orr 1990, Sachs 1995). Lave and Wenger’s analysis concerned non-IT settings (tailors, midives etc.) More recently, Seely Brown and Duguid (1996) have shown similar communities evolving around IT technologies such as an Object Oriented Multi User Dungeon (MOO).

Globalisation is also an issue currently affecting many organisations. Global forces are affecting every area of business as well as private and public activities (Manheim 1992, Castells 1996). Some companies are having to restructure themselves to compete on the global basis Sachs 1995, Karimi and Konsynski 1991, Ives and Jarvenpaa 1992). Working in a distributed environment will affect communities in that they will lose many of the opportunities for informal communication. Working in a more internationalised context places strains on the way a Community of Practice may work as they not only have to cope with geographical distance but also time, culture and, possibly, language differences.

As business becomes ever more international the use of teams and communities will become increasingly important (Manheim 1992, Sachs 1995). The knowledge available to an organisation will be ever more distributed. Therefore we need to study the process by which individuals learn from a Community of Practice. We also need to find out how well technologies fit into this process and help overcome the spatial and temporal difficulties imposed by work in a global environment.

The key research question is: Can a Community of Practice exist in a virtual environment? These are the results from a study of CMCs in a modern international company. The preliminary analysis of the data suggests the existence of Communities of Practice and also suggests that they exist across international boundaries. This paper will explore the media used by such communities to support their work, which media are preferred and why and the impact of the media on their work. The aim of this is to examine how CMCs can support or hinder the work of a distributed Community of Practice in an international context. Key aspects will be the use of the media to overcome the physical limitations of time and distance placed on such a group and also the extent to which the media support informal communications. To this end the paper will also explore the content of such communications, for example ‘war stories’, collaborative problem solving and learning from each other despite being in different locations.

AUTHOR
Frances Grodzinsky

PUBLISHED IN
ETHICOMP Journal Vol 1 Issue 1

ABSTRACT

While information technology affords new occasions for old ethical scenarios(e.g. issues of privacy, property, responsibility and censorship), we do not believe that it requires us to reconstruct notions of modern moral philosophy, but rather to recover, in a new way, notions that existed long before modern moral philosophy.

Specifically, we are thinking of the recent movements in philosophy and theology emphasizing the recovery of the virtues for adequately conceptualizing the moral life. We believe that the new problems occasioned by the prominence of computers in our culture (particularly that of acting well in anonymous contexts) provides further evidence for the belief that ethical theories emphasizing a strong notion of human agency(i.e. theories arguing for centrality of various virtues) are superior to rule-based ethical theories in having an impact on students of computer ethics. Moral theories emphasizing a notion of the self and the virtues have been eclipsed in the last three centuries by what has come to be known as consequentialism and deontological moral theories or “modern moral philosophy”. We think that some of the moral problems brought to the fore by information technology, e.g., the near impossibility of exercising external constraints on behavior in Cyberspace, give evidence of the limitations of modern moral philosophical theories.One of the ever-present problems with rule-based ethics is the tendency for people to obey them out of a fear of negative consequences. Instructing persons to “obey the law” simply because it is the law without further justification does not motivate persons to act for the right reason, for rules alone do not adequately address our deep moral sensibilities. If anything should be clear to information technology users, it is that rules qua rules (i.e. without convincing computer users that these laws are “just”) are impossible to enforce in the global world of information technology. No one has yet found a way to create a set of enforceable “laws” for this uncharted territory. If rules or “laws” are to be brought to the Internet, computer users will have to be convinced that these laws are not simply an external imposition, but an aid to both the good of the individual and the common good.

In other words, there needs to be renewed emphasis on what Aquinas calls “internal” rather than “external” principles of action. Whereas “law” is an external principle of action, “virtue” is an internal principle of action. As Thomas Hibbs puts it, the virtues “shape the general structure of one’s actions and give determinacy to the innate impulse toward the good. The virtues themselves are action-guiding principles; they determine the orientation of the self.”

Below is a short abstract on adaptive technology. I could serve on a panel if you have one on equity of access–or give a paper based on this abstract. I could also chair a session for you.

Adaptive Technology:

Information Technology has provided opportunities for people with disabilities to participate in the workplace in jobs that were previously inaccessible to the. Thanks to adaptive technology, the computer has become a tool that promotes equity not only in the workplace, but at the university as well. It should be the responsiblity of universities to provide students with disabilities access to technological tools with wihich to do their work. The number of students with disabilities who are studying or want to study at universities in the United States is increasing. These students are searching for the most “independent” and “normal” college experience possible. In order to make this a reality, students with visual, orthopedic, and learning disabilities must have access to computers which meet their needs i.e., computers that use the latest adaptive technology. Although this technology exists, it is rare to find it in use on many university campuses. Students with disabilities who have experienced adaptive technology on an individual basis, through their contact with state departments of rehabilitative services, know just how much adaptive technology can facilitate the educational process. This technology, which permits equity of access, has helped to reassure people with disabilities that they can attempt a university education with minimal accommodation. In fact, it has attracted many of them to the major of computer science. An Adaptive Technology Laboratory, staffed with support personnel, both special education and technical, provides students with disabilities the tools with which to perform their work. It enriches their learning experience and substantially improves the support given these students in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 [5]. More importantly, it enables them to develop the necessary independence that leads to increased productivity, self-esteem and ultimately access to careers in computer science. This paper will argue for the inclusion of adaptive technology in universities and in the workplace. It will discuss the challenge of developing an adaptive technology laboratory. It will present the various adaptive tools that exist in the areas of : ergonomics, visually impaired, learning disabilities, and alternative input/output.