Framing up to ethics

Much is made of the convergence of technologies with each other as well as with other fields. Such convergence and the associated blurring of boundaries seem to reflect the maturing of the underpinning science and technology together with a growing acceptance that real world problems and needs can only be addressed effectively using a pan technological-scientific-sociological approach. A good example of this is the manner in which computers, telecommunications and media have converged and are challenging traditional broadcasting and reporting. The open online personal journals of Blogs, the self-correcting, participatory media of Wikis and the recording and offline listening of Podcasts have led to citizen journalism which satisfies the needs of society to access alternatives to the manicured news offerings of the information barons.

From an ethical perspective commentary and guidance regarding the converging technologies is offered under computer ethics, communication ethics, information ethics, bio-ethics, nano-ethics and so on. For practitioners this may well appear distant, bewildering and irrelevant, particularly those involved in ICT whose role is to provide workable solutions and services.

However, in the modern technology-based economy, the role of the ICT professional is critical. Such professionals have differing relationships with the organisations they serve depending on whether they are employees, contractors, consultants, temporary staff or volunteers. Nevertheless regardless of the relationship all have a critical role to play.

A recent report from the Australian National Training Authority revealed that in the ICT industry "an important message [was] about the significance of people, and the value of knowledge, creativity, foresight, and wisdom". Such valuation supports a proactive approach to encouraging professionalism within the ICT industry. Indeed, given the debatable success of ICT professionals to deliver fit-for-purpose systems it would seem that there needs to be improved frameworks or scaffold to assist this disparate group of employees, contractors, consultants, temporary staff and volunteers to give of its best in support of both the employing organisations and society in general.

The increasing ICT dependency of organisations and society requires demonstrable trustworthiness in ICT professionals. The difficulty is that trustworthiness is intrinsic. In order to judge the trustworthiness of a person we therefore resort to extrinsic cues such as smart appearance, a firm handshake, a shared joke, social capital, association and declaration. The framework or scaffold mentioned earlier could be a powerful extrinsic cue and could help sustain ICT knowledge, creativity, foresight, and wisdom within organisations. It might comprise, for example, a suite of guidelines and policies, a training programme, an online discussion board and information library and a staff rewards scheme.

It is important to recognise that the conditions must be favourable for establishing the framework or scaffold. There must be managerial support at the highest level. Stringent administrative control must be replaced with flexible and tolerant coordination. Radical, innovative views and perspectives must not be curtailed by traditional, conservative views. The framework or scaffold must provide aspiration and expectation. Without aspiration, expectation can become regulatory and tedious. Without expectation, aspiration can become high sounding but empty. Overall the framework or scaffold will cover values, behaviour, processes and outcomes. The constituent parts of the framework or scaffold must be created and maintained by the ICT community with the help of specialist expertise. In this way the framework or scaffold will exhibit integrity and be owned by the working community.

Four interrelated topics need to be addressed in the construction of the framework or scaffold. The first topic is ICT work itself. How is the work defined in terms of jobs and activities? What are the ethical principles to uphold in the doing ICT work? How is quality addressed? What are the cherished practices to adhere to? The second topic concerns the authority under which ICT operates. What is this authority and what are the stated values of this authority? The third topic relates to the approach adopted in the framework or scaffold construction. How will the approach be cohesive ensuring it remains current and relevant? The final topic concerns identifying those who will build the framework or scaffold. What combination of ICT specialists, other specialists and administrators are needed in the construction? What will their roles be and what will the relationships be between these groups?

If such a framework or scaffold is constructed appropriately and used effectively then an organisation will increase the chance of ICT professionals being regarded as trustworthy. In turn trustworthy ICT professionals increase the likelihood of realising beneficiaries rather than victims of the systems developed through their professional endeavours.

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