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Doctoral essays in computer ethics

Computers in government: The need to consider ethics

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Abstract

Computer technologies are having a profoundly transforming effect on how the United States federal government operates. As technologies become more sophisticated, Federal agencies are becoming more innovative, devising creative ways to use these technologies for program delivery. One hopes that the near-term effect of these technology applications will be more efficient operation of government, the goal that generally leads to their implementation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Institute of Public Policy, George Mason University, Virginia, USA

    Sheri A. Alpert

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  1. Sheri A. Alpert
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Additional information

An essay competition for doctoral students was included as part of the ETHICOMP95 Conference. This was jointly sponsored by the Institute of Data Processing Management, the Institute of Administrative Management and Pitman Publishing, Entrants were asked to write an essay of no more than 1000 words addressing the issue of future ethical dilemmas in the application of computer technology. Essays were judged on perception and vision rather than the rigor expected of a full academic paper. The aim was to capture the opinions of younger researchers involved in the development of usage of Information Technology. There were 18 entries representing seven countries around the world. The range of issues was broad. The six winners and three runners-up were given the opportunity to present their essays at the conference.

Winners:

Sheri A. Alpert (George Mason University, USA)Computers in Government: The Need to Consider Ethics; Yero H. J. Baldeh (University of Central Lancashire, UK)The Ethical Dilemma Caused by the Transfer of Information Technology to Developing Countries; Johannes Busse (University of Tübingen, Germany)Responsible Computing; Barbara Heifferon (University of Arizona, USA)Crossing Boundaries and Borders of Computer Ethics; Linda D. Peters (Cardiff Business School, UK)Ethical Conduct in Customer Information Management; Daniel Salber (University of Grenoble, France)Privacy Issues in Computer-Mediated Communication.

Runners up:

Sara L. Miskevich (University of Southern California, USA)Killing the Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs: Ethical Issues in Social Science Research on the Internet; Derrick J. Neufeld (The University of Western Ontario, Canada)The Ethics of Telework: Julie Wilkinson (The University of Huddersfield, UK)Ethics and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): Opening up a Can of Worms?

Address for general correspondence: Simon Rogerson, Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility, De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK, Email: ccsr@dmu.ac.uk Homepage: http://www.ems.dmu.ac.uk/CCSR

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Alpert, S.A. Doctoral essays in computer ethics. Sci Eng Ethics 2, 225–247 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02583556

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02583556

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