Professional Ethics and Responsibilities

What is "Professional Ethics"?

A professional is an expert in a field

  • Customers rely on the knowledge, expertise, and honesty of the professional

The work of many professionals profoundly affect large numbers of people, some indirectly.

A professional advertises his or her expertise and thus has an obligation to provide it.

Professionals must maintain up to date skills and knowledge

A professional has a responsibility to act ethically. Many professions have a code of ethics that professionals are expected to abide by

Medical doctors

Lawyers and judges

Accountants

Bankers

There are special aspects to making ethical decisions in a professional context

Honesty is one of the most fundamental ethical values; however, many ethical problems are more subtle than the choice of being honest or dishonest

Ethical Guidelines for Computer Professionals

Provide a general statement of ethical values

Remind people in the profession that ethical behavior is an essential part of their job

Provide guidance for new or young members

ACM & IEEE Computer Society

They developed the Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice (adopted jointly by the ACM and IEEE CS) and the ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.

emphasize the basic ethical values of honesty and fairness.

cover many aspects of professional behavior, including the responsibility to respect confidentiality, maintain professional competence, be aware of relevant laws, and honor contracts and agreements.

stress the responsibility to respect and protect privacy, to avoid harm to others, and to respect property rights.

Guidelines and Professional Responsibilities

Understand what success means

Include users (such as medical staff, technicians, pilots, office workers) in the design and testing stages to provide safe and useful systems

Do a thorough, careful job when planning and scheduling a project and when writing bids or contracts

Design for real users

Don’t assume existing software is safe or correct; review and test it

Be open and honest about capabilities, safety, and limitations of software

Require a convincing case for safety

Pay attention to defaults

Develop communication skills

Methodology

Brainstorming phase

List all the people and organizations affected (the stakeholders)

List risks, issues, problems, and consequences

List benefits. Identify who gets each benefit

In cases where there is no simple yes or no decision, but rather one has to choose some action, list possible actions

Analysis phase

Identify responsibilities of the decision maker

Identify rights of stakeholders

Consider the impact of the options on the stakeholders (consequences, risks, benefits, harms, costs)

Categorize each potential action as ethically obligatory, prohibited, or acceptable

When there are multiple options, select one, considering the ethical merits of each, courtesy to others, practicality, self-interest, personal preferences, etc.