Exploring the Role of Ethics in Shaping Professional Responsibilities of ICT Professionals

IMAT5262 Research, Ethics
& Professionalism in
Computing
Assignment - Project Proposal
COMPUTER ETHICS &
PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
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De Montfort University
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NAME AS THE WORK WILL
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P Number: Pxxxxxxxx IMAT5262 Research, Ethics & Professionalism in
Computing
Abstract
This proposal suggests a research that would explore the role of ethics in shaping
the professional responsibilities of ICT professionals. The research would covers the
professional codes of ethics, responsibilities of professionals, consequences of not
following ethical codes, and influence of codes on responsibilities of professionals.
The literature review covers various concepts and identifies the research gap
resulting from the lack of presentation of a unified view on the impacts of codes of
ethics on professional codes of conduct. The research suggests a qualitative
research in which 100 professionals would be approach to gain insights and the
same would be analysed using thematic analysis to achieve the objectives of the
research.
Key Words
ICT, Codes of Conduct, Codes of ethics, Responsibilities
Contents
1. Background................................................................................................................................3
2. Research questions.................................................................................................................4
3. Literature Review......................................................................................................................4
Ethical Responsibilities of a computing professional.........................................................................5
Codes of Ethics..................................................................................................................................7
4. Methodology Review................................................................................................................8
SECTION 1 – REVIEW.........................................................................................................................9
SECTION 2 – SELECTION...................................................................................................................10
5. Conclusion...............................................................................................................................10
6. References...............................................................................................................................11
APPENDICES...................................................................................................................................12
7. Project Plan..............................................................................................................................12
8. Ethical Review Form................................................................................................................0
10. Consent Form.............................................................................................................................5
11. Pilot study....................................................................................................................................7
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P Number: Pxxxxxxxx IMAT5262 Research, Ethics & Professionalism in
Computing
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P Number: Pxxxxxxxx IMAT5262 Research, Ethics & Professionalism in
Computing
1. Background
Computing technologies can affect the lives of people today in ways that can
influence their professional duties or responsibilities. Professional associations in
technology discipline define certain codes of ethics that have to be followed by
working professionals. . Computing professionals have to perform a variety of duties
including writing specifications for new systems, designing instructions for
processors, identifying anomalies in systems, restructuring databases, analysing
traffic data and suggesting security policies. With these responsibilities given, the
actions of these professionals can have an impact on functionality and performance
of a system which can in turn affect the users of the system. For instance, a traffic
control software can affect the transition of automobiles on the road and thus, can
affect the safety of passengers travelling.
As the work of computing professionals can have a direct or indirect impact on
people, they have obligations for following professional ethics. Ethics is a discipline
of philosophy that studies actions that a person must choose considering ones
values and character. General obligations for ethical conduct can be practice of
honesty, fairness, and respect for others. However, obligations for computing
professionals go beyond these general ethical principles as they have a number of
different working relationships with other individuals and entities like employers,
clients, peer professionals and general public. Their obligations would go beyond the
compliance with regulations or laws. Privacy law is one such example which may not
attract police action if violated but ethical principles still need the be followed to
protect the privacy of people (Black, 2010).
As ethical laws do not always have clear regulatory provisions but only the codes
that are known to the professionals working in the field, it is essential to explore how
they are shaped and how they can influence the professional responsibility of a
person working in the field of computing. An understanding of professional ethical
codes is necessary for a computing professional so that it can be fairly complied with
and no actions are taken that can negatively affect the interests or welfare of
individuals.
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P Number: Pxxxxxxxx IMAT5262 Research, Ethics & Professionalism in
Computing
2. Research questions
The aim of this research is to understand how ethics play a critical role in shaping
professional responsibilities. This aim would be achieved by answering following
research questions:
 What are the professional codes of ethics used in the field of computing?
 What are the professional responsibilities of computing professionals?
 What could be the consequences of not following ethical codes as
professionals?
 How do codes of ethics add responsibilities to the practice of professionals?
3. Literature Review
Professionals working in the field of computers can include software engineers,
designers, database administrators, computer scientists, and system analysts.
Their field of work is significantly differentiated from other professions like
medicine, accounting, or engineering in certain ways. The specialized skill or
knowledge, professional autonomy, systematic research, and professional
association are some of the defining characteristics of computing profession.
The specialized skills and knowledge needed in the professional form a body of
knowledge that is gained not just through a formal education but is augmented
through lessons from practical experiences. Professionals in the field value the
knowledge that is gained through systematic researches in the field and do not
completely rely on the age old knowledge that is transferred through
generations. These professionals must not keep the knowledge to themselves
but should share the same to allow for expansion in knowledge. However, at
the same time, they also have the obligations to keep specific information
confidential such as the data of clients (Brey, 2017).
The values, purpose, and commitments toward public good in any profession
are documented as codes of ethics which is developed by a professional
association. These codes are distributed to professionals through conferences
and published periodicals by these professional associations. They also provide
accreditations or certifications to professionals for learning specialized
knowledge such as digital system designing or software development. These
certification programs also cover the codes of ethics. However, the computing
profession is not defined singularly by any organization but by associations of
distinct organizations like the Association of Information Technology
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P Number: Pxxxxxxxx IMAT5262 Research, Ethics & Professionalism in
Computing
Professionals (AIPT) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Computer Society (IEEE-CS) (Duquenoy & Kimppa, 2002).
In the computing field, any project such as software development needs
contribution from more than one people and thus, the ethical responsibilities
are also shared between them and are not atomized for individuals. However,
a professional has to comply with the codes of ethics at individual level as ones
action can affect a whole project with even one person’s mistake. For instance,
if a tester fails to do a thorough testing of a telephone switching system such
that the module fails causing service disruptions, the software tester would be
the person responsible for the harm caused even when it was not intended
and thus, is morally responsible for performing tests sufficiently (H.Weber,
2010).
Ethical Responsibilities of a computing professional
A computing professional deals with a number of other people while working
including employers, clients, professionals and public. Thus, the professionals
have specific responsibilities towards each of these.
Responsibilities towards clients: A computing professional must perform tasks
competently and follow the defined professional standards to ensure technical
excellence and consideration for social impacts of ones actions. The
capabilities of a system and its potential risks must be frankly reported by a
professional to a client with accuracy. While designing any new system, the
professional should not just consider the client requirements but also how
they can impact the life of users. For instance, an information system designed
for the hospital may need to provide fast access to data for the hospital
doctors but at the same time must also ensure protection of patients records
from unauthorized access. Any development can have trade-offs between
competing values. For instance, a developer may need to choose between the
enhancement of graphical user interface and fast response time with limited
resources and funds available for development (Hardcastle, et al., 2012).
There can be conflicts of interests between different stakeholders of a project
hat have to be balanced. For instance, an ecommerce retailer may like to
display expensive items first to maximize profits but customers may want to
see low cost products first to minimize their costs. These differential
requirements make software complex as well as error-prone. If a software has
an artefact with an error that is likely to cause a failure of the system in future,
the software engineer would have to take a decision on whether such a
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