Search results

Moor (1985) designated two major problem sources typifying the social and ethical implications of computer technologies, namely, “policy vacuum” and “conceptual muddles.” Motivated by Moor’s seminal definition and Floridi’s (2013) conceptualization of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as re-ontologizing technologies, this study aims to explore Omani undergraduates’ cognition regarding ICT ethics.

Adopting a grounded theory approach for the constant comparative thematic analysis, the constituents of ICT ethics-related cognition among undergraduates and influencing factors were scrutinized. Qualitative data were gathered via focus group discussions with undergraduates and interviews with academics and information systems professionals at Sultan Qaboos University.

In total, 10 thematic categories revolving around a core category, constructing conceptual perceptions of and attitudes toward the realms constituting ICT ethics using an ontological, object-oriented approach, emerged from the comparative analysis. Undergraduates were found to adopt an applied approach when defining professional ICT ethics codes and policies, with a particular focus on information privacy and integrity.

This qualitative study was conducted at a single research site. This may restrict the generalizability of the findings. Postgraduates were not considered when designing this qualitative inquiry.

The findings of the study hold theoretical and methodological significance with regard to ICT ethics-related cognition in the era following the fourth industrial revolution by sustaining feminist ethics in this research. Ultimately, the study developed a substantive theory scrutinizing the constitutive elements of ICT ethics-related cognition among Generation Z.

This paper examines associations among the socio-psychological determinants of information and communication technologies (ICT)-assisted deviance-related practices within a group of Omani undergraduates. Moreover, this study aims to evaluate the explanatory burdens of such socio-psychological factors on actual behaviour.

The study implements a predictive research design applied to a cross-sectional sample. At the outset, a theoretical model was built based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Thereafter, structural equation modelling was implemented to test the TPB model on the response data collected from a cluster sample of undergraduates from six universities in the Sultanate of Oman.

The results of the path diagram overwhelmingly support the TPB hypotheses. Specifically, intention is the most influential and immediate predictor of behaviour, while at the same time partially, though markedly, mediating the influence of cognition on behaviour.

This study has implications for the design of inclusive measures of the intrinsic dimensions of ethical self-efficacy as designated by the social cognitive theory of moral thought and conduct, which include moral judgment, self-monitoring of conduct and affective reactions to conduct. As the study reveals the importance of the explanatory power of cognition to explain variance in intention and behaviour, it has implications on the development of ICT-ethics-education.

This study fills a gap in the empirical literature on how intention mediates the relationship between ICT-ethics-connected cognition and behaviour. Moreover, the study addresses the direct relationship between cognition and behaviour – a relationship that is considered equivocal in both theories of planned behaviour and reasoned action.

The purpose of this paper is to address the place of computer/ICT ethics in the global ICT society driven by knowledge economy.

The paper focuses on three main issues: the evolution of the name of the leading technology of our times and, accordingly, the evolution of the name of the society in which this technology plays the leading role; some ethical dilemmas that the global ICT society will need to solve; global ICT ethics and the knowledge economy.

The paper suggests that global ICT ethics should be an ethics focusing on the dynamics of the relationship between the weak and the strong, the rich and the poor, the healthy and the sick worldwide – and it should explore the ethical problems from the point of view of both parties involved. That way, Global ICT Ethics can have a truly communicative character, and it can become an ethics that will be both a co‐creator and also a result of a democratic processes.

This paper should interest anyone concerned with ICT and globalization.

The world wide use of information and communication technology (ICT) is one aspect of globalisation. In the ethical discussion of the implications of ICT the right to privacy is in focus. However, ICT‐ethics has been developed in a Western context and hence, privacy might be a Western value without relevance in other cultures. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the general problem whether one can expect a global convergence on ICT‐ethics, with the right to privacy as a case in point. Is privacy a universal or contextual value?

In order to answer the research question, methods for conceptual and ethical analysis are used. The concept of privacy is analysed and an argument asserting that there is a deep disagreement between Western and Japanese understanding of a right to privacy is critically examined.

Privacy is a vague concept and it is not possible to identify one Western view of privacy and, hence, to distinguish between the Western and – for example – the Japanese views of privacy. Common arguments for privacy within ICT‐ethics do not presuppose contextual Western premises. While globalisation implies increasing inter‐cultural communication one may well envisage a growing global convergence of a right to privacy. Thus, there is not a deep cultural disagreement concerning the right to privacy.

The paper critically examines arguments for the view that privacy is a Western value without relevance in Japan. It clarifies the meaning of privacy and provides reasons why one can expect a global convergence of a right to privacy in particular and ICT‐ethics in general.

The purpose of this paper is to review the world of information and communications technology (ICT) from its early days to the near future. The aim is to consider how successfully academia, industry and government have worked together in delivering ethically acceptable ICT which is accessible to those who might benefit from such advances. The paper concludes with suggestions of a fresh approach for the future.

The paper draws upon evidence from the history of computers, funded research projects, professional bodies in the field, the ETHICOMP conference series and reported ICT disasters. The author uses his experience as both an ICT practitioner and an academic in the ICT ethics field to synthesise the evidence so providing a foundation on which to build an outline global action plan.

The paper lays out the findings that there has been much detailed observation and analysis of the ethical challenges surrounding ICT but the transformation of this into widespread practical positive action remains elusive. It explores why progress has been difficult.

This review of the interconnecting landscapes of practical ICT, funded research and the ICT ethics community is new. The attempt to demonstrate what progress has been made and to identify the underlying factors which influence progress are valuable to future generations working in this area. The concluding suggestions for action offer a starting point for entering the next phase of ICT ethics.

The paper aims to explore future and emerging information and communication technologies. It gives a general overview of the social consequences and ethical issues arising from technologies that can currently be reasonably expected. This overview is used to present recommendations and integrate these in a framework of responsible innovation.

The identification of emerging ICTs and their ethical consequences is based on the review and analysis if several different bodies of literature. The individual features of the ICTs and the ethical issues identified this way are then aggregated and analysed.

The paper outlines the 11 ICTs identified. Some of the shared features that are likely to have social relevance include an increase in natural interaction, the invisibility of technology, direct links between humans and technology, detailed models and data of humans and an increasing autonomy of technology that may lead to power over the user. Ethical issues include several current topics such as privacy, data protection, intellectual property and digital divides. New problems may include changes to the way humans are perceived and the role of humans and technology in society. This includes changing power structures and different ways of treating humans.

The paper presents a piece of foresight research which cannot claim exact knowledge of the future. However, by developing a detailed understanding of possible futures it provides an important basis for current decisions relating to future technology development and governance.

The paper spells out a range of recommendations for both policy makers and researchers/industry. These refer to the framework within which technology is developed and how such a framework could be designed to allow the development of ethical reflexivity.

The work described here is likely to influence EU policy on ICT research and technology research and innovation more broadly. This may have implications for the type of technologies funded and broad implications for the social use of emerging technologies.

The paper presents a novel and important broad view of the future of ICTs that is required in order to inform current policy decisions.

The purpose of this paper is to explore an emerging ethical theory for the Digital Age – Flourishing Ethics – which will likely be applicable in many different cultures worldwide, addressing not only human concerns but also activities, decisions and consequences of robots, cyborgs, artificially intelligent agents and other new digital technologies.

In the past, a number of influential ethical theories in Western philosophy have focused upon choice and autonomy, or pleasure and pain or fairness and justice. These are important ethical concepts, but we consider “flourishing” to be a broader “umbrella concept” under which all of the above ideas can be included, plus additional ethical ideas from cultures in other regions of the world (for example, Buddhist, Muslim, Confucianist cultures and others). Before explaining the applied approach, this study discusses relevant ideas of four example thinkers who emphasize flourishing in their ethics writings: Aristotle, Norbert Wiener, James Moor and Simon Rogerson.

Flourishing Ethics is not a single ethical theory. It is “an approach,” a “family” of similar ethical theories which can be successfully applied to humans in many different cultures, as well as to non-human agents arising from new digital technologies.

This appears to be the first extended analysis of the emerging flourishing ethics “family” of theories.

The purpose of this article is to provide a commentary to the conceptual article by Norberto Patrignani and Diane Whitehouse, The Clean Side of Slow Tech. This article explores what can be easily overlooked in Information Communication Technology (ICT): the uncomfortable truth relating to the production, use and disposal of modern communication technology.

In it, the author picks up on the main ideas that were argued, specifically that there is a need to take a closer look at the production, use and disposal of modern communication technology.

Connecting resource production, use and disposal and its affect on climate change will require those who are in the position to make changes to come up with solutions that also consider values, beliefs and norms that lead to particular types of behaviour.

ICT has had an enormous impact on people’s lives. However, there has been primarily focus on its life-accelerating attributes. Slowing down the process of production may open up possibilities for sustainable ICT development.

The commentary, combined with Patrignani and Whitehouse’s paper may provide a resource for those responsible in training future ICT professionals.

If today’s society, and this includes users and producers of ICT, intends to go beyond the mere rhetoric about sustainability, individuals will need to take on a new kind of responsibility that covers the entire life cycle of technology.

This commentary is intended to provide an additional viewpoint to the topic of sustainable ICT production.

This paper aims to suggest that ethical issues in information and communications technology (ICT) should be researched from a holistic perspective, including environmental values and other values inherent in ICT. This paper thoroughly discusses the value of speed by drawing on ICT advertisements and theories of speed, primarily Paul Virilio’s work.

The methodology consists of a semiotic analysis of ICT-related advertisements primarily from Sweden. These empirical data are combined with a close reading of Paul Virilio’s work, and the analysis moves abductively between theory and empirical data.

Speed is promoted in ICT-related advertisements and may be analyzed using concepts of dromology, dromocracy, dromoscopy, the dromosphere, instantaneity and grey ecology.

Most of the data are from the Swedish context.

To create a sustainable society, one must explicitly discuss how speed forms and shapes society.

The paper combines philosophical theories with everyday commercials. It draws on the work of Paul Virilio, whose theories are seldom used in studies of information ethics, and redraws attention to the need for a holistic perspective to understand the values of ICT.

This paper aims to introduce a special section based on papers from Australasian Conference for Information Systems 2014.

This paper comments on key contextualisation moments in relevant history.

This paper describes the initiative in Australia to widen Information and Communication Technology ethics awareness.

This is a new attempt to bring Ethics and Information Systems academics closer together.