Introduction to Ethics and Professionalism

Question:

Describe about the Introduction to Ethics and Professionalism.

Answer:

1. ICT stands for information and communication technologies industry. It deals with a different set of technological tools and resources that are used to create ,store and manage various information. When an ICT industry merges with other organization, then the Data information increases and access to the data also increases. The ethical issues faced by the professional of the ICT industry  –

Privacy: individual privacy rights are potentially violated. Due to the merging of two organizations, the personal information of both the companies have been shared altogether, thereby, merging all kinds of identifiers.

Ownership: employees who have not signed non-disclosure agreements have no legal restrictions,  they have the access to internal documents, and information that would create competitive advantage.

Accuracy: the complex technology deals with huge data that would relate to complex issues and result in ripples to the rest of the process.Security:  security issues could be breaching of networks, personal identification information could be compromised, critical confidential information could be stolen, websites hacked. Organizations have internal policies that deals with the security issues, yet there is various loophole in the system.

2.  “A Guide To Moral Decision Making” by Chris Macdonald acts as an aid to the above mentioned  problems. The aids are divided into various steps as follows-

The first step is to recognize the decision that has moral importance.

Identify the people and their relationships those who have a hold in the decision. The person should be imaginative and sympathetic while analyzing the relationship between the parties.

There is a need to examine the shared values that are at important in making the decision

The benefits and burden benefits must be weighed for various parties concerned in the decision making.

Some analogous cases must be seen, check whether the decision made was good or bad and how the present case is related to it.

The merits of discussing the issue with the co-members must not be underestimated.

If an option is illegal, then it must be looked upon seriously before taking the decisions ,as to see whether they are abiding the rules of the organization or not.

An important aspect of decision making is to see, whether the person concerned is comfortable with the decision being made or not, would it be morally right to abide by such a decision being made or not.

At each step, a perspective is measured, and it attains the ethnicity of work. By formulating these measures, the above mentioned problems faced by the ICT industry could be quickly addressed and resolved.

3. Theft in computer crime is considered as one of the most common issues that are faced nowadays by the ICT industry. Overcoming this issue needs to be done by following some steps. Here, the three steps to overcome such ethical issues by Thomas White.

Step 1: at first, the various options must be analyzed. Both the positive and negative aspects must be taken into consideration. Various options of protection from cyber theft are available such as passwords, encryption, auditing software, and access to logs is vital.

Step 2: Now the primary focus must be on how the decision must be implemented. Focus must be made to check whether the actions are morally correct, whether they recognize the vulnerability of the individuals or not. That option must be selected, whose actions are the least problematic.

Step 3: There must be some least basic steps to be followed such as physical entry to computer systems must be protected, card key systems and login/logout system must be a regular business procedure to have a secure bond.

4. The code of ethics for the ICT organization considering the ethics mentioned in Western Australia Public Sector Code of Ethics  –

Primacy Of The Public Interest – the public interest must always gain a higher position while comparing it with personal, private and sectional interests and conflicts. It must never conflict with the duty and loyalty towards the public.

2.Enhancement Of Quality Life – there are some adverse effects of the technological availability. The role which ICT can play to enhance the life of people, satisfaction, control and competence of those who are affected by the organization.

Honesty –Utmost Honesty and integrity must be observed by all the professionals and applied to the decisions being made. Avoid matters of bribery and misleading client, give credit to others for the work done and no attempt must be made to raise reputation in expense of others .

Competence – accepting only those work where the professional is competent to perform, and there must be no hesitation in seeking advice from professionals who are qualified enough to provide information.

Professional Conduct – one must be informed about new technologies, practices, and standards that are relevant to work.

Professionalism –Actions must be taken against individuals who go against the ethical code of the industry. The professionals must limit diversity at the workplace and have pride in their profession. The aim should be to promote and protect professionalism in ICT.

Bibliography

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Lucas, R., 2013. ETHICAL DELAY IN EMERGING ICT. The possibilities of ethical ICT, p.316.

MacDonald, C., 2002. A guide to moral decision making. Retrieved January,27, p.2008.

Public Sector Commission. (2013). Code of ethics and codes of conduct. [online] Available at: https://publicsector.wa.gov.au/public-administration/public-sector-governance/good-governance-wa-boards-and-committees/resources/code-ethics-and-codes-conduct [Accessed 22 Aug. 2016].

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YouTube. (2016). “Professional Presence In The Workplace – How to demonstrate Professional Presence in the Workplace”. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsimbWV7Ek0 [Accessed 22 Aug. 2016].

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