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CFP "Ethics" Workshop Cuba Feb.1994
From: David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: Sat, 9 Oct 1993 07:03:10 -0400
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
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- CFP "Ethics" Workshop Cuba Feb.1994 David Farber (Oct 09)