AUTHOR
Ernest A. Kallman and H Jeff Smith

ABSTRACT

Managing computers ethically, that is, acting ethically and assisting others to do likewise, is no easy task for either an individual or a manager. Donn Parker, Susan Swope, and Bruce Baker (all of SRI International), claim that “the application of ethics in information science, technology, and business is more difficult than in other disciplines” [Parker, et al., 1990]. Part of the reason for this is that unethical computer use takes many forms, is performed by people inside and outside organizations, and occurs with computers of all sizes and capabilities, both standalone and networked.

Networked computers are much less secure because of their “outside” connection; therefore, they are more vulnerable to certain unethical activity such as hacking. But in spite of the publicity that hackers have received, most unethical computer activity is performed by people inside a firm, quite often by disgruntled employees. Furthermore, harm occurs and ethical problems arise not only in the use of the computer, but in all the tasks performed by information systems professionals and those who work with them. [Kallman and Grillo, 1996]

The challenge for the IT manager is to understand the current ethical climate in the organization and, where the climate appears deficient, to invoke corrective action. But, even for a willing and pro-active IT manager, few aids exist to guide an organizational assessment and remedial action. This paper proposes, as an assessment tool, a model of stages of ethical growth. The stages reflect the degree to which an organization and its people respond to the ethical challenges of today’s computing environment. To invoke the model, managers are urged to assess ten major areas where unethical activity may take place: individual practice; software development; manager-subordinate relationships; computer processing; work environment; data collection, storage, and access; electronic mail and the Internet; resource exploitation; vendor-client relations; and computer crime [Kallman and Grillo, 1996].

In addition, managers are also asked to plot the organization’s level of achievement on seven dimensions which reflect a commitment to an ethical computing environment: formal ethics objectives; a designated responsible person; established guidelines; a communications process; training; reporting process; audit and revision. Using the assessment model and specific recommended actions, managers can discover their organization’s strengths and weaknesses, understand their ethical challenges, and plan appropriate responses for their particular IT environments.

AUTHOR
Daniel Salber

ABSTRACT

Information technology is developing at an astounding pace. Computers are now common and their use is switching from number-crunching tools to “information and communication appliances”. The growing success of the Internet is just an example of how information and communication facilities are now available to the general public. We argue that today’s Internet is just the precursor of more innovative applications. Research in a variety of computer science disciplines, such as communications networks and mobile devices are suggesting radically new uses of information technology. These new uses may raise new ethical issues. We give a few examples and show that these issues are not explicitly dealt with in existing ethical frameworks such as Mason’s PAPA or Huff’s ImpactCS. We also discuss the usability of these frameworks by software designers and suggest that information technology practitioners need more explicit tools such as handbooks to help them understand and deal with ethical issues.

AUTHOR
Don Gotterbarn

ABSTRACT

The Association of Computing Machinery/s Curriculum 91 and the Computer Science Accreditation Board Standard’s recommend the inclusion of ethical issues in the computer science curriculum. One effective way to meet this recommendation is to distribute the discussion of ethical issues across several computer science classes. The ethical issues discussed in any class should be ones that are directly related to the subject area of that class. Examples of this include a discussion in the database course of data aggregation, or a discussion in the software engineering course of the potential conflicts between obligations to the customer and the user.

This paper is designed to help those with minimal experience discussing ethical and professional issues. The primary technique presented introduces students to ethical issues in small subject units within the context of existing computer science courses. We will explain ways to introduce these topics so that students can easily see how they are related to the technical subject matter of each class. We will them present complete examples which can be used in several of the standard introductory undergraduate courses. For each example we will: show how to introduce the subject, describe several anticipated student responses, suggest ways to respond to the student’s responses, provide sample exercises and grading standards.

AUTHOR
Helen Edwards and Barrie Thompson

ABSTRACT

The M.Sc. in Computer-Based Information Systems is a ‘conversion’ course intended for graduates who have little or no knowledge of computing and are interested in gaining a theoretical and practical understanding of the construction of computer-based information systems. The course consists of two main elements: a taught element and an externally sponsored project. A major element within the taught part of the course is the Systems Engineering module. Within this module the students are encouraged to: critically examine current practices within the industry, comprehend those approaches that are that are expounded as being good software engineering practice, and gain an understanding of the social and ethical issues associated with all aspects of computer based systems. The course and the Systems Engineering module are outlined and the approach which has been adopted to ensure that social value issues are addressed within the course is described. It is also demonstrated that students gain a wider understanding of the ethical dimension associated with information technology. Finally a critical evaluation is given along with details of the changes that are to be implemented in the future.

AUTHOR
Chris R. Simpson

ABSTRACT

Many students entering computer science and engineering courses, in my experience, have only a limited idea of what they are embarking upon, what their chosen discipline entails day to day and, least of all, what social and ethical issues may commonly confront them in practice; and this outlook persists well into the course. My thesis is that injecting reality from the outset of a course – principally by means of work experience and a continuing, guided, first-hand exposure to workplace intangibles – will promote an infinitely keener sense of relevance, motivation and ethical purpose in students. Course retention rates, student results, industrial aptitude and sense of social responsibility should all improve significantly. Some strategies are offered for implementing such a scheme, based upon my own experience and observations currently being made of relevant activity at other universities.

AUTHOR
Lester J. Pourciau

ABSTRACT

American colleges and universities are making great efforts to incorporate information technology into their curricula and to encourage, if not mandate, that students obtain computer accounts so that they might more effectively participate in the academic life and culture of their institutions. One might assume that commensurate efforts are being made to establish Codes of Ethics for the use of this technology. This paper addresses the degree to which American colleges and universities have promulgated Codes of Ethics as evidenced by their World Wide Web Home Pages. It reports on the examination of 50 college and university Home Pages selected at random for evidence of Codes of Ethics for computer use. Those Codes found are compared for commonality and for differences.