[LINK] Professional Bodies and ICT Governance

[Tom Worthington]

Greetings from the ET GOVICT2008 conference on the ethical governance of
ICT, in Canberra. John Ridge, Executive Director of the ACS Foundation,
gave the opening address. This two day conference is on at University
House, Australian National University, 1 - 2 May 2008. Anyone can come
along, pay the modest fee and join in.    Justice Michael Kirby, High
Court of Australia, is talking on "The Challenge of Regulating
Contemporary Technology". More in my Blog:
<http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2008/05/professional-bodies-and-ict-governance.html>.

The conference has researchers and practitioners looking at ethical
governance, governance of ethics, of Information and Communication
Technology, and the role of professional bodies.

John has started by raising the issue of qualifications and the
difference between a practitioner and a professional. He cited the new
book: Ethics in ICT: An Australian Perspective. McDermid, D. C. (2003)
Pearson Educational: Melbourne. He points out that the ACS meets most of
the requirements which McDermid lists. He argues that ICT is not ready
to have the next logical step, which is registration. He also asserts
that ICT people do not value being part of being a profession. He
lamented that the take-up rate of initiatives such as ACS's
certification program.

Professor Don Gotterbarn argued that discussion of professionalism of
ICT was the "same old same old".

Some later topics:

    * licensing and accreditation of ICT professional
    * education of ICT professionals
    * governance of policies and procedures concerning ethics in the ICT
    industry
    * the ethical content of standards, methodologies, and the processes
    used by the ICT industry
    * the place of government regulations
    * the role of professional organisations.

Keynote Speakers are Professor Simon Rogerson, Director of the Centre
for Computing and Social Responsibility, DeMontfort University, UK and
Professor Don Gotterbarn, Software Engineering Ethics Research
Institute, East Tennessee State University - ICT Governance and What to
Do About the Toothless Tiger(s): Professional Organisations and Codes of
Ethics.

The Conference is sponsored by The Centre for Applied Philosophy and
Public Ethics, The Australian Computer Society, ARC Governance Research
Network, The Australian National University, Charles Sturt University
and UNESCO.

-- 
  Tom Worthington FACS HLM
  PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia
  http://www.tomw.net.au