Development of a Code of Ethics: IT Challenges Essay

Societal changes caused by learning technology and the resulting honorable usageThe information technology advancements continue to impact the workplace, societies and cultures. In nows world, information technology is almost part of every business, educational institute, and even in-person activity (Brooks, 2010). electronic computer and internet recover sacrifice found their way to households, schools, libraries, peoples cell phones, banks, hospitals, governments, c off-keyee shops, and separate public places. As the industry evolves, so do the use ups and special(prenominal) niches of hostelry from mainframe systems, to micro systems, to PC-based LAN and WAN systems, to virtual systems and the internet. march on technology think ofs unlimited prospects for the society. In the same token, b atomic number 18-assed technologies mean increased exposure to engage in unhonorable sorts. The growing concerns frustrate given rise to efforts in developing scratch of ethics t o frustrate violations and address ethical dilemmas. When policies be ambiguous, ethical decisions earth-closet vary depending to the personal judgment or interpretation of the manager.There are instances where the lines are fuzzy that it becomes rocky to draw the line between ethical and unethical behavior (Brooks, 2010). This is the origin why it is important for education systems and businesses to address the ethical concerns of information technology usage and to develop a code of ethics to interdict ethical dilemmas and violations.New capabilities of computers give rise to new choices for action. This results in situations where both there is no conduct for centering or there is scant(p) polity to address the situation. James H. Moor, a Professor of Intellectual and virtuous Philosophy at Dartmouth College publish an article What is calculator Ethics? where he identified this situation as policy vacuum (Moor, 1985).History of the ripening of enter of Ethics in computingIn the 1950 era, a new technology in the form of TAB machines was introducedby accountants. Very a couple of(prenominal) understood the capabilities of these machines and even fewer had the skills to operate them. The machine accountants were faced with challenges in the usage of the TAB machines and did non have any guidance to follow. The gist Machine Accountants fellowship (NMAA) was founded in 1960 to address the growing issues of this new technology. The ever-changing nature of processing information brought about by the introduction of computers in the early 1960s gave rise to another challenge.The industry was changing and the widespread interest on computers required a change in the heraldic bearing and goals of NMAA. The connectednesss name was changed to Data Processing Management Association (DPMA) to be more reflective of the new objectives that pass ond continuing education and original certification of its constituents.As the computing industry evol ved, business principalers, accountants, and educators recognized the need to advance breeding engine room (IT) professional development, support IT education, and formulate IT policies that bequeath guide the usage of IT in many facets of society. The association adopted nevertheless(prenominal) another name in 1996 which is now the Association of discipline Technology Professionals (AITP). Development of Code of EthicsThere are at least two basic factors that influence the development of Code of Ethics for IT. ane is from sources outside of the corporate structure, and the other is from the corporations governance.AITP as an outside source. The accounting surround gained the Public Company Accounting circumspection advance to oversee, regulate, and discipline accounting firms that do not conform to duty and transparency standards. In the information technology world, similar professional agencies were create to provide guiding principles in the usage of information tec hnology to shelter off undesirable and unethical behavior. A prominent professional association that lends oversight to the guiding principles of information technology is the AITP.AITP is an association composed of a premier network of IT business professionals focused on providing a residential district of knowledge, education and resources to its members bound by the associations guiding principles on Guiding Principles reflect AITPs beliefs about your role as a member and the impact we want AITP tohave in the IT profession. The association extends opportunities to its member to become better leaders that excel through honesty demanding ethical behavior and fiscal responsibility.The associations webpage shares news, IT developments and events with chapter members, IT professionals, faculty advisors, student members, and mingled community groups. Today, there are over 1,000 U.S. regional chapters with members that are conjugated in who make continuous network connections aroun d the country and across the globe.Corporate governance as an inside source. Prudent governance of an make-ups IT functions is viewed as an integral part of corporate strategy in facilitating information-based competitive advantage in promoting systemal growth and progress. Enterprise leaders like the board members, executive solicitude and chief information officers are entrusted with the responsibility of raising awareness and understanding to ensure IT meets and exceeds expectations, its risks mitigated, and standards followed (IT Governance Institute, 2003).These officers are uniquely positioned to fulfill their role in harmonizing the organizational strategy with the accounting, auditing, operating(a) and IT controls that is central in adhering to corporate ethical behavior. It is important for top forethought to lead in promoting awareness of ethical compliance within their organization as it sends messages to employees that inevitably shape the culture of their organizat ions. Enforcement issues related to a code of ethics for information technologyThe expansion of Internet brings together various cultures and societies where norms of ethical and acceptable behavior, and the role of computing and communication networks within the society vary a lot. In protecting globally distributed systems that employ clean-cut public networks, there is a great demand to specify what individuals rights and responsibilities are in regard to these networks. The distributed global nature of networks makes this a significantly heavy task.The lack of centralized authority and differences in moral codes between several(predicate) groups, such as original developers of networks, business users, private users and governmentalorganizations lead to significant consistencies. These situations can easily trigger enforcement issues that can result in ethical dilemmas.Differences of organizational culture can also become problematical when dealing with how operational poli cies and methods are enforced. Various groups within the company may have significantly different objectives and requirements for the use of networks, and balancing different necessarily and wishes may be a difficult task. The task of adopting or innovation a common communication network to adapt to the various departmental needs becomes complex.The issue becomes even more complicated when considering the non-technical issues. For instance, it becomes difficult to establish a common ethics guideline that can provide world-wide protection and security for all aspects of the organizational structure.There is also an enforcement issue on banning people from downloading data like music off the internet. This is a clear violation of the Copyright laws but protecting the authors is difficult to enforce considering that the internet is open to anyone who has access to a computer. The downloading of music does not cause actual harm to anyone, but it is unethical. A hacker can argue that a crime is not committed since there is no theft, vandalism or breach of confidentiality.In an Examiner article published by Scot Trodik on Ethical Issues on Hacking (Trodik, 2011), the literary hack Manifesto states that the only if crime committed is the crime of curiosity and since the information is free, hacking is therefore justified. Conversely, the Computer Fraud and Abuse act of 1986 recently expanded in display 2013 made it illegal to tap into a computer without authorization and access private government, financial or credit card information.However, this act was flaw because of its broad scope and vague wordings that would criminalize many everyday activities allowing outlandishly severe penalties. Establishing a code of ethics in an online educational environmentTechnology has enormously changed the teaching world from the traditional classroom to online learning. blank learning allows a student to choosecourses to enroll in and enables a student to develop a pers onalized schedule. Higher education institutions that prolong online learning should not lose sight in stressing the importance of ethical character development of both the faculty and the learner in the credit line of a personal, pedantic and professional excellence.This educational revolution can pose an ethical challenge because the interaction between the faculty and the learner becomes less personal in comparison to a face-to-face classroom instruction.It is for this reason that it is crucial to establish and adopt a code of conduct that gives guidance to the maintenance of effective and responsible distance learning programs. Institutions should provide policy guidelines for faculty and learners to follow and incorporate technology ethics in the curriculum. An academic Conduct Committee should be established to enforce academic rules and promote an atmosphere of learning. Penalties for violators of the code should be weighed with fairness keeping in question the intent to preserve the integrity of distance learning educational process.A student handbook on the rules of academic integrity should be a required reading material so that students know what the instances that violate academic integrity. Examples of these violations include plagiarism, fabricating citation, use of unauthorized assistance, and falsifying or altering results of inquiry work.Among these violations, Plagiarism is one of the most common academic misconduct in a distance learning setting. Many factors lead students to commit plagiarism. several(prenominal) of these reasons may be because of new rules to learn, academic pressures, poor time management or poor research skills. Notwithstanding these, students should have the responsibility to make grow themselves honestly.ReferencesAl-Rjoub, H., Zabian, A. & Qawasmeh, S. (2008). Electronic Monitoring The Employees Pointof View. 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