[LINK] Remaining human in the networked world

[Tom Worthington]

Recommended talk by Matthew Allen 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2007/07/remaining-human-in-networked-world.html>:

---
     ‘...Computer Says No’: Networks of 
Information and the Ethics of Discretion

     By Associate Professor Matthew Allen, Curtin University of Technology

     NSW 31 Jul, ACT 7 Aug, QLD 8 Aug, NT 9 Aug, 
Vic 15 Aug, SA 20 Aug, WA 21 Aug, Tas 28 Aug

     “Just when is it dangerous to remain silent, 
and be discreet, when information comes to our attention in unexpected ways?”

     We live in a world in which computer 
technologies are used in networks to permit 
increasingly rapid and extensive exchanges of 
information. More and more of what we, as humans, 
do and think is being expressed as ‘information’ 
- precisely because of the ease with which 
information can be transmitted and processed. 
This networked, digital world offers real 
benefits and opportunities and yet poses great 
challenges as well – for ethical and professional 
practice in situations where established norms, 
expectations and understandings no longer apply 
in quite the same way they once did.

     With emphasis on the idea of ‘discretion’ 
Matthew will explore some of the central issues 
facing computer professionals in a world of 
information networks and investigate some of the 
newer problems of being (or remaining) human in 
this world of computing technology.

     What You Will Learn

     • computer systems tend to limit the 
exercise of discretion in human decision-making; 
and that information networks tend to lead to 
unintended and indiscreet access to information

     • network technologies change common or 
accepted approaches to making ethical decisions about information

     • human identity and involvement in decision 
making can be constrained by the autonomous 
operation of rules within computer-based systems

     • computer professionals play an important 
role in guiding society towards a better 
understanding and use of information networks
     Biography:

     Associate Professor Matthew Allen

     Associate Professor Matthew Allen 
established the Internet Studies Program at 
Curtin University of Technology in 1999, in the 
School of Media and Information. He is an active 
writer and researcher on issues relating to the 
policy and governance of the Internet, as well as 
its social consequences. He is also a nationally 
recognised tertiary educator, having won an 
Australian Award for University Teaching in 2000 
and has been involved in online learning since 
1995. On research leave from Curtin University of 
Technology for 2007, he is turning his attention 
to the meaning and importance of so-called Web 
2.0 technologies and social applications. He is 
the current President of the International Association of Internet Researchers.
---

ps: for those wondering, "Computer says no ..." 
is a catchphrase by the character Carol Beer in the TV show Little Britain.



Tom Worthington FACS HLM tom.worthington at tomw.net.au Ph: 0419 496150
Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd            ABN: 17 088 714 309
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617                http://www.tomw.net.au/
Visiting Fellow, ANU      Blog: http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/atom.xml