Software Engineer Islamic Ethics: An interactive web-based model

2006

Among the various contemporary schools of moral thinking, consequence-based ethics, as opposed to rule-based, seems to have a good acceptance among professionals such as software engineers. But naïve consequentialism is intellectually too weak to serve as a practical guide in the profession. Besides, the complexity of software systems makes it very hard to know in advance the consequences that will derive from professional activities in the production of software. Therefore, following the spirit of well-known codes of ethics such as the ACM/IEEE's, we advocate for a more solid position, which we call "moderate deontologism", that takes into account both rules and consequences to assess the goodness of actions, and at the same time pays an adequate consideration to the absolute values of human dignity.

Contemporary Ethical Issues in Engineering, 2015

The difficulties inherent in the nature of software as an intangible object pose problems for specifying its needs, predicting overall behavior or impact on users, and therefore on defining the ethical questions that are involved in software development. Whereas software engineering drew from older engineering disciplines for process and practice development, culminating in the IEEE/ACM Professional Code in 1999, the topic of Software Engineering Ethics is entwined with Computer Science, and developments in Computer and Information Ethics. Contemporary issues in engineering ethics such as globalization have raised questions for software engineers about computer crime, civil liberties, open access, digital divide, etc. Similarly, computer-related ethics is becoming increasingly important for engineering ethics because of the dominance of computers in modern engineering practice. This is not to say that software engineers should consider everything, but the diversity of ethical issues...

Communications of the ACM, 1997

Postmodern Openings, 2020

Over the past 30 years, computer engineering has developed a lot. Currently, computer and software applications have a central role in business, medicine, security, communications, industry, education, and everyday life. Software developers, peoples who manage computer networks, data security analysts can do well, but they also have the potential to cause suffering and harm to the clients or ordinary peoples, willingly or not. For this reason, IT activities must be regulated by specific laws. From the beginning, we argue that the law is not the same thing as ethics, even if both promote the good. Certain ethical principles can be strengthened by law. In the field of computer science and technology, can exists theft, privacy violations, violence and harassment. To combat and punish such actions and behaviors, law is needed. But is software engineering a profession? If so, are there codes of professional ethics whereby specialists in the field can regulate their professional activity,...

Science and Engineering Ethics, 2015

The purpose of this article is to propose an ethical framework for software engineers that connects software developers' ethical responsibilities directly to their professional standards. The implementation of such an ethical framework can overcome the traditional dichotomy between professional skills and ethical skills, which plagues the engineering professions, by proposing an approach to the fundamental tasks of the practitioner, i.e., software development, in which the professional standards are intrinsically connected to the ethical responsibilities. In so doing, the ethical framework improves the practitioner's professionalism and ethics. We call this approach Ethical-Driven Software Development (EDSD), as an approach to software development. EDSD manifests the advantages of an ethical framework as an alternative to the all too familiar approach in professional ethics that advocates ''stand-alone codes of ethics''. We believe that one outcome of this synergy between professional and ethical skills is simply better engineers. Moreover, since there are often different software solutions, which the engineer can provide to an issue at stake, the ethical framework provides a guiding principle, within the process of software development, that helps the engineer evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of different software solutions. It does not and cannot affect the end-product in and of-itself. However, it can and should, make the software engineer more conscious and aware of the ethical ramifications of certain engineering decisions within the process.

Dilemmas 2015 Papers from the 18th annual International Conference Dilemmas for Human Services: Organizing, Designing and Managing, 2017

The aim of this paper is to analyze the ethical dilemmas that IT professionals in general, and software engineers in particular, face in the Balkans, specifically in Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania. In an environment where there is still an absence of policies regarding ethics and best practices, developers' perceptions and their dilemmas are investigated. The paper first gives a general overview of the social and cultural issues in these countries, and then follows an analysis of issues regarding software development, good and bad work practices, and developers' reactions to these issues. In this research, varying security and privacy compliance situations are explored through qualitative interviews of 6 developers that work in domestic and foreign developing companies in Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania: how they deal with dilemmas, how they make decisions and how they ensure that users are never harmed -was the objective of this investigation. Some conclusions are drawn based on participants' reported perceptions regarding these issues.

Globalization and digital convergence in the emerging knowledge society has raised complex ethical, legal and societal issues. We are faced with complex and difficult questions regarding the freedom of expression, access to information, the right to privacy, intellectual property rights, and cultural diversity. To overcome these issues, it requires qualified and educated IT (Information Technology) beneficiaries professionally and ethically. Professional organizations like ACM, IEEE and ABET have established codes of ethics to help IT professionals, specially end users to understand and manage their ethical responsibilities. Islamic ethics comprise moral principles and guidance that differentiate between right and wrong, which are comprehensive, stable, fair, and historically proved success in building ethically great societies. The estimated 1.5 billion of Muslims should have an effective role in IT related activities and life, which requires them to understand and implement ethics, specially the Islamic ethics in their IT related works. This paper is a roadmap for modeling the IT user principles, which show the main phases for solving such problems. It focuses mainly on adopting a new version of IT user principles based on Islamic ethical values.

Science and Engineering Ethics, 2001

IIUC Studies, 2015

Globalization and digital convergence in the emerging knowledge society has raised complex ethical, legal and societal issues. We are faced with complex and difficult questions regarding the freedom of expression, access to information, the right to privacy, intellectual property rights, and cultural diversity. To overcome these issues, it requires qualified and educated IT (Information Technology) beneficiaries professionally and ethically. Professional organizations like ACM, IEEE and ABET have established codes of ethics to help IT professionals, specially end users to understand and manage their ethical responsibilities. Islamic ethics comprise moral principles and guidance that differentiate between right and wrong, which are comprehensive, stable, fair, and historically proved success in building ethically great societies. The estimated 1.5 billion of Muslims should have an effective role in IT related activities and life, which requires them to understand and implement ethics, specially the Islamic ethics in their IT related works. This paper is a roadmap for modeling the IT user principles, which show the main phases for solving such problems. It focuses mainly on adopting a new version of IT user principles based on Islamic ethical values.

Science and Engineering Ethics, 2007

Among the various contemporary schools of moral thinking, consequencebased ethics, as opposed to rule-based, seems to have a good acceptance among professionals such as software engineers. But naïve consequentialism is intellectually too weak to serve as a practical guide in the profession. Besides, the complexity of software systems makes it very hard to know in advance the consequences that will derive from professional activities in the production of software. Therefore, following the spirit of well-known codes of ethics such as the ACM/IEEE's, we advocate for a more solid position in the ethical education of software engineers, which we call 'moderate deontologism', that takes into account both rules and consequences to assess the goodness of actions, and at the same time pays an adequate consideration to the absolute values of human dignity. In order to educate responsible professionals, however, this position should be complemented with a pedagogical approach to virtue ethics.