-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [AISWorld] CFP for AMCIS 2012 Mini-track on "Ethical Issues in Information Systems" Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:36:53 +0000 From: Alan Litchfield alan.litchfield@aut.ac.nz To: aisworld@lists.aisnet.org aisworld@lists.aisnet.org
*Track:* Philosophical Perspectives in IS (SIGPhilosophy) *Mini-track:* Ethics in Information Systems
* * * * *Mini-track chairs*
Alan T Litchfield: Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand. Email:alan.litchfield@aut.ac.nz mailto:alan.litchfield@aut.ac.nz
Sutirtha Chatterjee: College of Business, Prairie View A & M University, Texas, USA. Email:suchatterjee@pvamu.edu mailto:suchatterjee@pvamu.edu
* * *Mini-track Description* For research and professional practice in the field of Information Systems, ethics maintains a broad range of concerns that impact the work of professionals, academics and researchers, and the work and lives of those who are dependent upon the successful and appropriate deployment of information systems (for example, Chatterjee, Sarker & Fuller, 2009; Mingers and Walsham, 2010). Recent world events reported in the media highlight the need for a constant review of ethics, both in application and theory, through sociopolitical and sociotechnical lenses.
The use and application of computing technologies typically derives positive and negative influences for humanity. Accounts exist of the negative impacts of unforeseen events, the misuse of technologies, or the corruption of otherwise well-intentioned technologies, as well as being part of a wider negative impact on the environment. It is when such events occur that the role that practitioners and researcher play is brought into question. Typically, ethics in computing and information technology has concentrated on certain specific areas such as whether ethics in computing is a unique field, how ethics is treated pedagogically, issues of logic versus moral responsibility, matching computer use against human values, the ethics of professionals and practitioners, and so on. However, some of the debates regarding ethics have been renewed in light of recent advances in technology and the uses to which technology is applied. Moor (1985, p. 266) says: $B!H(BA typical problem in computer ethics arises because there is a policy vacuum about how computer technology should be used. Computers provide us with new capabilities and these in turn give us new choices for action. Often, either no policies for conduct in these situations exist or existing policies seem inadequate. A central task of computer ethics is to determine what we should do in such cases, that is, formulate policies to guide our actions.$B!I(B
This mini-track provides a forum for the expression of debates and arguments surrounding these and other issues. Authors can present cases that have arisen out of present and past researches, and events that clarify ethical dimensions. Papers should be of a standard where specific issues are identified and questions or solutions presented. Possible topics include, but are not limited to: $B!|(BApplications of classical ethical theory $B!|(BComputer crime $B!|(BEthics in research $B!|(BEthics issues and arguments on IS related phenomena that include security, knowledge management, strategy, information systems development, collaboration, plus others. $B!|(BEthics issues and arguments that face IS researchers and academics in the preparation and execution of their practice. $B!|(BEthics of information use and misuse, especially in an increasingly networked world $B!|(BEthics of professionals and practitioners $B!|(BGlobalization of computerization and its effect on society $B!|(BIntellectual property issues $B!|(BLogic versus moral responsibility $B!|(BMatching computer use against human values $B!|(BPedagogical issues in ethics education $B!|(BPrivacy and anonymity issues $B!|(BThe encroachment of information technologies into the lives of people $B!|(BThe ethics of distance learning in advanced education $B!|(BThe impacts of social networking on the work place $B!|(BThe use and misuse of computers in the workplace
* * * * *References* Moor, J. (1985) $B!H(BWhat Is Computer Ethics?$B!I(B Metaphilosophy, 16(4): 266-75.
Chatterjee, S., Sarker, S., and Fuller, M. (2009). "Ethical Information Systems Development: A Baumanian Postmodernist Perspective," Journal of the Association for Information Systems 10(11), 787-815.
Mingers, J., and Walsham, G. (2010). "Toward Ethical Information Systems: The Contribution of Discourse Ethics," MIS Quarterly 34 (4), 833-854.
Track Chair Alan Litchfield -- Alan T Litchfield MBus (Hons), CTT, MNZCS Programme Leader, Masters in Services Oriented Computing School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies Auckland University of Technology http://www.aut.ac.nz/cms/ Ph +649 921 9999 x5217