Bernd Carsten Stahl

1
Bernd Carsten Stahl Damian Eke
2
Presentation Outline

• Introduction
• Definitions
• What is ICT?
• What is Ethics Reviews?
• Importance of Ethics Review in ICT Research
• Research Aim
• The Survey
• Findings
• Conclusions
• Limitations
• Future Research

3
Introduction

• Research in ICT-
• Becoming broad and varied owing to the increasing
  convergence of technologies
• Exacerbates old ethical questions of privacy,
  intellectual property and identity
• Increasingly involve human being (e.g. ICT
  implants)
• Therefore
• There is a need for decisions to be taken
• Ethical problems solved and anticipated
• Legislations need to be adopted and
• And an ethical framework for research review
  formulated and implemented.

4
Definitions

• ICT-Information and Communications Technology
• It means the production and usage of technology
  artefact that can store, retrieve, manipulate,
  transmit or receive information electronically in
  a digital form. (e.g personal computers, network
  hardware and software, satellite systems digital
  television, radio, robots etc
• Ethics Review
• is an integral part of research ethics that
  promotes the adherence to ethical norms in
  research so as to maintain the aims of research
  such as knowledge, truth, avoidance of error and
  harm.

5
Importance of Ethics review in ICT Research

• Contributes to a more proactive research
  community.
• Encourages good and ethical research and
• Ensures the sustainability of ICT research.

6
Research Aim

• Identify the current state of the art in ethical
  reviews of ICT projects in UK computing
  departments
• Understand the ethical issues involved in ICT
  research
• So as to develop such ethical framework that will
  provide a frame of reference for UK researchers
  in ICT.

7
The Survey

• 345 respondents selected randomly from academic
  staff list (from University websites)
• of 97 UK computing departments were contacted.
• 30 participants responded.

8
Survey (contd)
9
Problems and challenges raised by ethical review
policies in UK Universities

• Generally accepted and well balanced,
• A box-ticking exercise.
• Lack of awareness of Ethical issues
• Lack of a procedure to follow up the outcome of
  the research.
• Time Constraint
• Audit Issues
• Volume of Work
• Lack of seriousness towards the procedure
• additional and insignificant hurdle to pass and
  an obstacle to research.

10
Findings
11
Findings (contd)
12
What can be changed about ethics review policies
in UK Universities?

• simplification of the procedure either by cutting
  down the number of forms to be completed or by
  substituting the forms with a statement regarding
  the ethical implications.
• ethical review of all ICT research projects and
  not some specific projects,
• the introduction of ethics training for Head of
  departments
• improvement of publicity in ethics review issues,
• introduction of an ethics review process that is
  interactive and not just a box-ticking exercise-
  that should be ongoing with the research and
  through to the outcome of the research and
  finally
• raising awareness among project co-ordinators,
  supervisors and students.

13
Conclusion

• Limitations
• self-selection bias
• Future Research
• Reconciliation of the differences in the existing
  ethics review policies in computing departments
  in UK.
• how can UK computing departments provide an
  academic environment that encourages ethical
  research by promoting integrity and best
  practices?
• What are the benefits of regular ethics training
  for both staff and students- to raise both old
  and novel ethical issues in computing science?