Journal of Information Communication and Ethics in Society

Patrignani, Norberto ; Whitehouse, Diane

2015 Journal of Information Communication and Ethics in Society

doi: 10.1108/JICES-10-2014-0057

Purpose – This paper aims to provide an overview of clean information and communication technology (ICT), including a brief review of recent developments in the field and a lengthy set of possible reading matter. The need to rethink the impact of ICTs on people’s lives and the survival of the planet is beginning to be addressed by a Slow Tech approach. Among Slow Tech’s main questions are these two: Is ICT sustainable in the long term? What should be done by computer ethics scholars, computer professionals, policy makers and society in general to ensure that clean ICT can be produced, used and appropriately disposed of? Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a comprehensive review of clean tech-related literature and an investigation of progress made in the clean tech field. Findings – This opening paper of a Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society special session aims to provide an overview of clean ICT, including a brief review of recent developments in the field and a lengthy set of possible reading matter. As a result, it is anticipated that Slow Tech – and in this case, its second component of clean ICT – can provide a compass to steer research, development and the use and reuse of environmentally friendly, sustainable ICT. Originality/value – This conceptual paper emphasises that, until only recently, no one questioned the potential long-term sustainability of ICT. This issue is, however, now very much a matter that is on the research and teaching, and action, agenda.

Kavathatzopoulos, Iordanis

2015 Journal of Information Communication and Ethics in Society

doi: 10.1108/JICES-12-2014-0063

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an overview and to discuss the following issues: most often, discussions about Information and communication technology (ICT) sustainability focus on environmental issues; however, there are other aspects referring to ICT internal sustainability and to its role as a tool in managing general sustainability issues. The way to handle ICT sustainability issues is also significant. Design/methodology/approach – The paper discusses and investigates various aspects of ICT sustainability, and of methods to handle these issues and make decisions. Findings – Classical philosophy and psychological empirical research on decision-making demonstrate the way to take care of ICT sustainability issues. This way is philosophizing, which has to be trained and supported for people and organizations involved to acquire the necessary skills and to use suitable methods. Originality/value – The paper highlights other significant aspects of ICT sustainability rather than the environmental impact alone. It also proposes focus on the way ICT sustainability issues are handled rather than focus on normative or ideological aspects of it.

Bull, Richard

2015 Journal of Information Communication and Ethics in Society

doi: 10.1108/JICES-12-2014-0061

Purpose – Information and communications technology (ICT) offers a peculiar twenty-first century conundrum, as it offers both a cause and solution to rising carbon emissions. The growth in the digital economy is fueling increased energy consumption while affording new opportunities for reducing the environmental impacts of our daily lives. This paper responds and builds on Patrignani and Whitehouse’s overview of Slow Tech by providing examples of how ICT can be used to reduce energy. Encouraging examples are provided from the field of energy and buildings and implications for wider society are raised. Design/methodology/approach – This paper builds on the previous overview “The Clean Side of Slow Tech”, based on a comprehensive knowledge of literature of the latest developments in the field of digital economy, energy and sustainability. Findings – This paper provides clear and encouraging signs of how ICT can be used to contribute to sustainability through controlling systems more efficiently, facilitating behavioural changes and reducing energy consumption. Future challenges and recommendations for future research are presented. Originality/value – This conceptual paper presents the latest research into the use of ICT in energy reduction and offers cautious, but encouraging signs that while the environmental impact of ICT must not be overlooked, there are benefits to be had from the digital economy.

Otrel-Cass, Kathrin

2015 Journal of Information Communication and Ethics in Society

doi: 10.1108/JICES-12-2014-0062

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to provide a commentary to the conceptual article by Norberto Patrignani and Diane Whitehouse, The Clean Side of Slow Tech. This article explores what can be easily overlooked in Information Communication Technology (ICT): the uncomfortable truth relating to the production, use and disposal of modern communication technology. Design/methodology/approach – In it, the author picks up on the main ideas that were argued, specifically that there is a need to take a closer look at the production, use and disposal of modern communication technology. Findings – Connecting resource production, use and disposal and its affect on climate change will require those who are in the position to make changes to come up with solutions that also consider values, beliefs and norms that lead to particular types of behaviour. Research limitations/implications – ICT has had an enormous impact on people’s lives. However, there has been primarily focus on its life-accelerating attributes. Slowing down the process of production may open up possibilities for sustainable ICT development. Practical implications – The commentary, combined with Patrignani and Whitehouse’s paper may provide a resource for those responsible in training future ICT professionals. Social implications – If today’s society, and this includes users and producers of ICT, intends to go beyond the mere rhetoric about sustainability, individuals will need to take on a new kind of responsibility that covers the entire life cycle of technology. Originality/value – This commentary is intended to provide an additional viewpoint to the topic of sustainable ICT production.

Eke, Damian Okaibedi ; Stahl, Bernd Carsten ; Fidler, Christine

2015 Journal of Information Communication and Ethics in Society

doi: 10.1108/JICES-03-2014-0015

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to attempt to investigate how Information and Communications Technology (ICT) researchers in UK computing departments address ethics in their research. Whilst research and innovation in ICT has blossomed in the last two decades, the ethical, social and legal challenges they present have also increased. However, the increasing attention the technical development receives has not been replicated in the area of developing effective guidelines that can address the moral issues inherent in ICT research. Design/methodology/approach – This research is qualitative and made use of interviews. The data analysis was done with dialectical hermeneutics. Through a dialectical hermeneutic process, this research unpacks different understandings of relevance attached to ethics reviews of ICT research in UK computing departments. Findings – The findings include that ethics reviews are relevant because; it is a moral duty, it improves trust for researchers, it is part of risk assessment, it is in compliance with the law and it is a sustainable act. Practical implications – These various understandings illustrate an important dialectic process on the current state of the art in ICT research. Social implications – It asks to what degree the currently dominant model of ethics review based on biomedical ethics is optimal to ICT. Originality/value – It proposes a framework that can effectively help researchers and administrators to ensure responsible research and innovation in ICT. Finally, it identifies that ICT researchers would benefit from the developing repertoire of responsible research innovation.

Hendow, Maegan ; Cibea, Alina ; Kraler, Albert

2015 Journal of Information Communication and Ethics in Society

doi: 10.1108/JICES-02-2014-0008

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the primary fundamental rights concerns related to biometrics and their use in automated border controls (ABCs), as well as how these issues converge in the European Commission’s Smart Borders proposal. Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws on extensive background research and qualitative in-depth interviews conducted in 2013 for the European Union (EU) FP-7 project “FastPass – A harmonized, modular reference system for all European automatic border crossing points”. Findings – The Smart Borders proposal not only compounds the individual concerns related to the use of biometrics in border controls and automatisation thereof, but also has serious issues of its own, premier among which is the imposition of a two-tier border control system. Social implications – The paper is a catalyst for open debate on the fundamental questions of how we got to this point and where do we want to go. It questions the process by which the increased use of IT in border controls has become the norm and policy trend in Europe, and discusses where the limits could be drawn from a fundamental rights perspective. In particular, it warns against the institutionalisation of a two-tier border control system among third-country nationals. Originality/value – Little attention is given to the fundamental rights concerns raised for EU and non-EU citizens as related to biometrics and their use in ABCs, and how these issues are reproduced in the Smart Borders proposal. The paper fills this gap by taking a bottom-up approach: examining the implications of individual elements of the proposal to see their impact on the broader policy.

Ajana, Btihaj

2015 Journal of Information Communication and Ethics in Society

doi: 10.1108/JICES-01-2014-0005

Purpose – Investments in the technologies of borders and their securitisation continue to be a focal point for many governments across the globe. This paper is concerned with a particular example of such technologies, namely, “Big Data” analytics. In the past two years, the technology of Big Data has gained a remarkable popularity within a variety of sectors, ranging from business and government to scientific and research fields. While Big Data techniques are often extolled as the next frontier for innovation and productivity, they are also raising many ethical and political issues. The aim of this paper is to consider some of these issues and provide a critical reflection on the implications of using Big Data for the governance of borders. Design/methodology/approach – The author draws on the example of the new Big Data solution recently developed by IBM for the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. The system, which relies on data collected from Passenger Name Records, aims to facilitate and automate mechanisms of profiling enable the identification of “high-risk” travellers. It is argued that the use of such Big Data techniques risks augmenting the function and intensity of borders. Findings – The main concerns addressed here revolve around three key elements, namely, the problem of categorisation, the projective and predictive nature of Big Data techniques and their approach to the future and the implications of Big Data on understandings and practices of identity. Originality/value – By exploring these issues, the paper aims to contribute to the debates on the impact of information and communications technology-based surveillance in border management.