Transcript Professional Responsibility & Accountability

Allison Fox
Po-Han Chen
The question to keep in mind:
What is professional responsibility?
What is a profession?
 Body of knowledge
 Autonomy
 Formal organization
 Code of Ethics
 Culture of practice
IT compared to law & medicine
 Body of knowledge: is it
defined? Should we define it?
 Should IT experts have the
power to govern themselves?
 One universal exam?
Licenses?
 Should there be one formal
organization of IT experts?
 Is it possible for one Code of
Ethics to cover all of IT?
 What is IT culture?
Is the practice of IT design and
research a profession?
(Should it be?)
12 year old app developer
The levels of responsibility
 Legal system
 Code of Ethics
 Human ethics
 Call for a “moral operating system”
The four types of professional
relationships
 Employer-employee
 Professional –professional
 Client-professional
 Other stakeholder-professional
Employer-Employee
 Why is there a process of “whistle blowing?”
 The Hughes Case
 BART
Professional-Professional
 Why should co-workers be loyal to each other?
 Hughes
 Do professionals “owe” each other anything?
 Should build up reputation of the profession in the
public eye
 Should promote growth in the profession
 Apple sues Samsung- ethical towards fellow
professionals?
Client-Professional
 Agency, Paternalistic, Fiduciary
 Which of these is the best type of relationship for IT?
 How to use experts-and when not to
 Guns for hire
 Negligence
 MySpace
 Accenture
Professional-Other Stakeholders
 Should IT professionals take other stakeholders into
account when designing a system/following a client’s
demands?
 Accenture
 ACS law: porn server data leak
Professional Relationships
 Which relationship is the most important? (i.e. which
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one does a professional have the most ethical
responsibility to honor?)
Other stakeholders vs. employer?
Employer vs. other professionals?
Client vs. other stakeholders?
Client vs. employer?
Can they be ordered in a linear fashion?