CFP "Ethics" Workshop Cuba Feb.1994

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

from RISKS


Date:  Mon, 13 Sep 1993 17:31:54 +0200
From: Klaus Brunnstein <brunnstein () rz informatik uni-hamburg d400 de>
Subject:  CFP "Ethics" Workshop Cuba Feb.1994


CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS for an IFIP WG 9.1 Workshop, from Ina Wagner


    ETHICS AND SYSTEMS DESIGN: THE POLITICS OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
    Havana, Cuba, February 17-19, 1994


IFIP has been for some time analyzing the possibility of developing its own
Code of Ethics. Working Group 9.1 Computers and Work is planning to contribute
to the discussion on political and ethical problems in systems design,
beginning with a small workshop. The main focus of this workshop will be


* to discuss grounded scenarios which can provide rich knowledge of the
  political and ethical problems encountered in a variety of contexts,
* to analyze the relationships between ethics and the politics of work in
  these contexts (including the work environment of systems designers),
* to develop practical guidelines that help the professional community of
  systems designers to identify political and ethical dilemmas and to
  respond to them.


THEMES OF THE WORKSHOP


Ethics and the Politics of Systems Design:


We think of ethical problems as emerging wherever the values and moral
principles on which individuals base their decisions and actions are
contested or in conflict. Such conflicts between people's values, norms of
conduct and claims for moral ground often point to basic underlying
differences between their positions in the organization or in a society,
their interests, and, consequently, their assessment of certain situations.
In that respect, ethical problems have a strong political content.


Real life situations are often characterized by ethical dilemmas involving the
co-existence of conflicting or competing values. The ethical problems that
emerge in a field are shaped by its conditions and contexts, as are the
conflicts that arise between different ethical principles, their different
perception and evaluation by different actors in the field, and the solutions
that participants look for and finally come to accept.  Although high
standards of individual responsibility (as represented in an ethical code) are
indispensable, these need organizational support in order to unfold and
develop. Consequently, the politics of systems design itself need to be a
primary focus of all deliberations on professional ethics.  Questions of
personal morality stand a chance of becoming significant guidelines for action
only if the systemic"questions are openly discussed.  Among these are the work
practices and working conditions of systems designers -- management and
development practices as well as the paradigms within which systems designers
are working.


Learning from ethical scenarios:


Ethical scenarios should be grounded in the analysis, development and use
of information technology in different contexts. We think that rich
descriptions of actual conflicts and of how participants cope with them
might sharpen systems designers' awareness of ethical problems in general,
support their analytical understanding and help them enter a dialogue with
others in the field. As WG9.1 we are particularly interested in exploring
the relationships between ethics and the politics of work.


Making ethical principles practicable:


Generalized "ethical codes"  have the advantage that they can act as some
basis for a minimal social standard to be taken into account in systems
design. They oblige systems designers consciously to connect their
technical analysis of a problem with a moral-practical judgement. Two
requirements for such general ethical principles are:


* Their formulation should make clear the consequences of an adequate,
  responsible attitude for the relationships between all participants in a
  design effort.
* They should clearly express the difference and tension between the
  obligation to observe professional norms on one hand and to depart from
  these norms if other principles or the situation make this necessary".


We look for suggestions on how such codes could be developed and made
understood and practicable.


Institutional frameworks for social responsibility:


One particularly difficult task is to set up an institutional framework for
implementing an ethical code and to define the legitimate actors in such a
framework. Analysis of the composition of ethical committees in the medical
area, for example, has brought forward the problems involved in deciding
whether some people are more "affected" or more worthy of participation in
decision making than others because of their education, social background,
specific merits for society or their minority position. Experiments with
citizen participation in communal projects often use drawing lots among the
general constituency instead of elective procedures.


Another question is whether members of such an institutional framework
should be representative of particular groups. It could for example be
argued that otherwise underrepresented actors should be over represented.
This could be justified in a number of ways: A critical mass of members
from that group may be necessary to give weight to their perspective; there
should be sufficient room for the particular values and interests of this
group to be heard.


We look for contributions that deal with these issues on a theoretical and
practical-empirical level (discussing cases, practices).


OUTLINE OF THE WORKSHOP


Participants are invited to submit either:


a)      Ethical scenarios from different types of work organization (from
hospitals to industrial sites) and different cultures (including developing
countries) which are suitable for an in-depth discussion.
        An ethical scenario should
        * be informed by a real case (or cases),
        * include some temporal/historical/developmental account,
        * describe ethical/political conflict in relation to the working
conditions and professional culture of the different communities of
practice involved in the case.


or


b)      a Position Paper which deals with one (or several) of the leading
issues of the workshop.


Short versions (2-4 pages) should be submitted to:


Ina Wagner, Vienna Technical University, Center for CSCW
Argentinierstrasse 8,  A-1040 Vienna, Austria
Tel: +43 1 58801 4439  Fax: +43 1 5042478  Email: iwagner () email tuwien ac at


They will be reviewed by the members of the Programme Committee.


OUTCOMES OF THE WORKSHOP


One main result of this workshop will be a position paper for the Reader on
Ethics and Computing edited by Jacques Berleur, Chair of the IFIP Ethics
Task Group. An additional possibility is to revise and expand some of the
contributions for publication in an international refereed journal.


KEY DATES


November 1, 1993                Deadline for submission of short version
December 1, 1993                Notification of Acceptance


Given the short preparation time, authors are not expected to send in full
papers before the conference. However, once accepted they will be given
instructions on how to prepare their contribution for the conference itself.


PRACTICAL INFORMATION


This conference will be connected to the WG9.4 Conference "The Impact of
Informatics on Society: Key Issue for Developing Countries" (from February
21-23 also in Havana). If you are interested in participating in this event
as well, please contact:


Prof. Sam Lanfranco
Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC)
York University (Room 240YL)
4700 Keele Street, North York
Ontario, Canada, M3J 1P3
phone: (416) 736-5237
fax:   (416) 736-5737
email: lanfran () vm1 yorku ca


Information on the conference site and accommodation will follow. Cuban
Airlines as well as Iberia offer moderately priced flight & accommodation
arrangements. We will inform you about the possibilities in time.


WORKSHOP FEE


As we have no funding for this conference, we would appreciate participants
to contribute a registration fee (beyond expenses).


Full registration fee: US$ 200
Reduced registration fee: US$ 100


PROGRAMME COMMITTEE


Andrew Clement (University of Toronto), Vice Chair WG9.1
Mike Robinson (University of Aarhus)
Lucy Suchman (Xerox Park, Palo Alto)
Ina Wagner (Vienna Technical University), Chair WG9.1