Relationships Between IT
Professionals and Other Professionals
• Professionals owe each other adherence to a
profession’s code of conduct
• Ethical problems between members of the IT
profession
– Résumé inflation
– Inappropriate sharing of corporate information
Relationships Between IT
Professionals and IT Users
• IT user is a person for whom a hardware or
software product is designed
• IT professionals’ duty is to
– Understand users’ needs and capabilities
– Deliver products and services that best meet those
needs
– Establish an environment that supports ethical
behavior by users
Relationships Between IT
Professionals and Society
• Actions of an IT professional can affect society
• How???
The Ethical Behaviour of IT
Professionals
• Corporations are taking actions to ensure good
business ethics among employees
Professional Codes of Ethics
• A professional code of ethics states the principles
and core values that are essential to the work of a
particular occupational group
• Main parts:
– Outlines what the professional organization aspires to
become
– Lists rules and principles by which members of the
organization are expected to abide
Professional Codes of Ethics
(continued)
• Benefits for individual, profession, and society
– Improves ethical decision making
– Promotes high standards of practice and ethical
behavior
– Enhances trust and respect from the general public
– Provides an evaluation benchmark
Professional Organizations
• No universal code of ethics for IT professionals
• No single, formal organization of IT professionals has emerged as
preeminent
• Most prominent organizations include:
– Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
– Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP)
– Computer Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE-CS)
– Project Management Institute (PMI)
Ethical Guidelines for Computer
Professionals
• Professional Codes
– ACM and IEEE CS
• Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional
Practice
– Ethical Behaviors Expected of the Computer Professional:
• Honest and fair; respects confidentiality; maintains
professional competence; understands relevant laws;
respects and protection of personal privacy; avoids harming
others; and respects property rights.
Q: How does a software engineer “learn” to be ethical?
ACM/IEEE-CS Code of Ethics
• PUBLIC - Software engineers shall act consistently with the public
interest.
• CLIENT AND EMPLOYER - Software engineers shall act in a
manner that is in the best interests of their client and employer
consistent with the public interest.
• PRODUCT - Software engineers shall ensure that their products
and related modifications meet the highest professional standards
possible.
• JUDGMENT - Software engineers shall maintain integrity and
independence in their professional judgment.
ACM/IEEE-CS Code of Ethics
• MANAGEMENT - Software engineering managers and leaders
shall subscribe to and promote an ethical approach to the
management of software development and maintenance.
• PROFESSION - Software engineers shall advance the integrity
and reputation of the profession consistent with the public interest.
• COLLEAGUES - Software engineers shall be fair to and supportive
of their colleagues.
• SELF - Software engineers shall participate in lifelong learning
regarding the practice of their profession and shall promote an
ethical approach to the practice of the profession.
Additional Guidelines for Computer
Professionals
• Understand Success
– Understand what success means—developers
(especially) and users of computer systems must see
beyond simply writing code to complete a task.
• Design for Real Users
– To provide useful systems, real users must be
included in the design stage.
Additional Guidelines for Computer
Professionals (cont’d)
• Evaluate Re-use of Software
– Don’t assume existing software is safe and re-usable.
• Candidness
– Be open and honest about capabilities, safety, and
limitations of software.
• Protect
– Require a convincing case for safety.
Certification
• Indicates a professional possesses a particular set
of skills, knowledge, or abilities in the opinion of a
certifying organization
• Can also apply to products
• Generally voluntary
• Carries no requirement to adhere to a code of ethics
Certification (continued)
• Vendor certifications
– Some certifications substantially improve IT workers’
salaries and career prospects
– Relevant for narrowly defined roles
• Or certain aspects of broader roles
– Require passing a written exam
– Workers are commonly recertified as newer
technologies become available
Certification (continued)
• Industry association certifications
– Require a certain level of experience and a broader
perspective than vendor certifications
– Lag in developing tests that cover new technologies
Government Licensing
• Generally administered at the state level in the
United States
• Case for licensing IT professionals
– Encourage IT professionals to follow the highest
standards of the profession
– Practice a code of ethics
– Violators would be punished
Government Licensing (continued)
• Issues associated with government licensing of IT professionals
– There are few international or national licensing programs for IT
professionals
– No universally accepted core body of knowledge
– Unclear who should manage content and administration of
licensing exams
– No administrative body to accredit professional education
programs
– No administrative body to assess and ensure competence of
individual professionals
IT Professional Malpractice
• Negligence has been defined as not doing
something that a reasonable man would do, or doing
something that a reasonable man would not do
• Duty of care refers to the obligation to protect people
against any unreasonable harm or risk
• Courts consistently reject attempts to sue individual
parties for computer-related malpractice
IT Users
• Employees’ ethical use of IT is an area of growing
concern
Common Ethical Issues for IT Users
• Software piracy
• Inappropriate use of computing resources
• Inappropriate sharing of information
– Private data
– Confidential information
Supporting the Ethical Practices of IT
Users
• Policies that protect against abuses:
– Establish boundaries of acceptable and unacceptable behavior
– Enable management to punish violators
• Policy components include:
– Defining and limiting the appropriate use of IT resources
– Establishing guidelines for use of company software
– Structuring information systems to protect data and information
– Installing and maintaining a corporate firewall