ICT 521 IT PROFESSIONAL PRACTISE

ASSIGNMENT 01: CODES OF ETHICS OR STANDARDS OF CONDUCT

SUBMITTED TO: Saeed Shariati

SUBMITTED BY:

1. 33823061, Aarathi Premanathan

2. 33508947, Yogita
3. 33384791, Murugu Zachary Murithi
4. 33693284, Dilsher Singh
5.  33632817, Ugyen Kezang

TASK 1

The following are the list of five Codes of Ethics :

Name of code Key concepts The Strength and

environment Weakness
in which code
operates
Software  It develops a code of ethics to Software Strength: Ethical
Engineering make software engineering to industry issues are well
Code of Ethics be a respectable job structured and
and Professional (Gotterbarn et al. , 2001, par. addressed.
Practice 5).
 It contains eight principles Weakness: It
(Gotterbarn et al., 2009). cannot be applied
 Public  to all situations,

 Client and Organisation because

 Item/Product interference of top

authorities is
 Judgment
necessary.
 Profession
  Self
 Management
 Co-workers
 It helps software
developers in decision-
making, which is moralistic
and technical.
 It teaches the responsibility
of the position held and
imparts education on specific
standards on what society
wants them to achieve.

 It guides the ICT ICT industry Strength: Updated

(Information and as per the current
ACS (Australian
Communication standards.
Computer
Technology) professionals
Society) Code of
in their daily schedules. Weakness: Does
Ethics
 Applicable to all not report the
professionals in the IT issues regarding
industry (ACS Code of innovations of new
Professional Conduct 2019, technology.
page 5).
 It includes six ethical
values (ACS Code of
Ethics and Professional
Conduct, 2019):
 The interest of the public is
taking into
consideration.
 Quality of professional life.
 Truthfulness
 Competence.
 Professionalism.
  Career development.

PMI (Project  It includes the following All PMI Strength: Can

Management steps (ethical-decision- members meet all the
Institute) Code making-framework, 2019): expectations and
of Ethics  Assess the ethics which promote good
includes all the facts communication
 Include choices or among the team
alternatives. members.

 Analyze the decision.

 Apply the concepts Weakness:

developed for the decision received the

taken. approval from the

 Take action for the PMI Board of

decision taken. Directors, and there

are no weaknesses
 The model describes the
found.
essential aspects of project
management team like
truthfulness, righteousness,
responsibility and honor.
 Choose projects based on
experience, educational
standards and expertise.
BCS (British  Do professional tasks Information Strength:
Computer without any partiality and Technology Maintains respect
Society) Code of should provide better and responsibility
Conduct access to benefit within the firm.
professionals (BCS code of
conduct, 2019, page 2). Weakness: Codes
 Should be ready to learn do not always draw
continuously. a difference
 Should take the between personal
responsibility as per the (Individual) and
 ethical standards. social
 Should be able to responsibility
encourage the employees' issues.
personal life and in
professional terms.
ACM  It indicates professional Computing Strength: This
(Association for obligations and also guides field. code is helpful for
Computing those who are in the everyone who uses
Machinery) position of leaders (ACM computing
Code Of Ethics Code of Ethics and technology.
Professional Conduct, par.
3). Weakness: Breach
 It promotes social of the code can
wellbeing by appreciating occur and might
every person is a lead to violations.
stakeholder in the
computing world (ACM
Code of Ethics and
Professional Conduct, par.
5).

TASK 2

The elements that are common across the codes:

Basic ACS ACM BCS PMI Software Similar

ethical (Australi (Associati (British  ( Project Code Of element
principles an on for Comput Manageme Ethics & among
Compute Computin er nt Profession code of ethics
r Society) g Society) Institute) al
code of Machinery code of code of Practice
ethics ) code of conduct ethics
ethics
Honesty Y Y N Y N ACS, ACM,
PMI similar
 on the base of
honesty
Professionalis ACS, BCS
m and Software
code of ethics
Y N Y N Y
has
professionalis
m section
Promise ACM and
keeping & PMI have a
N Y N Y N
trustworthine common
ss factor of trust
Fairness ACM, PMI
and software
N Y N Y Y code of ethics
are similar to
fairness point
Public ACM, BCS,
interest Software
Code of
N Y Y N Y Ethics has
Public
interest
factor 
Respect for ACM, PMI,
others Software
Code of
N Y N Y Y Ethics has
similarity on
respect for
others point
 The elements that are specific to each of the codes:

Name of codes KEY POINTS Specific Element of codes

   The primacy of public interest, the Enhancement of quality life
ACS (Australian enhancement of quality life, is a special element in ACS
Computer Society) honesty, competence, professional which is not present in other
code of ethics development, professionalism codes
ACM (Association  Contribute to society, avoid harm to Honor confidentiality is a
for Computing others, honesty, trustworthy, fair, specific element in ACM
Machinery )code of respect the privacy of others, honor
ethics confidentiality

BCS (British  Public interest, Professional There is no specific element

Computer Society) competence, and integrity, Duty to BCS
code of conduct the relevant authority, Duty to the
profession
PMI ( Project Honesty, Responsibility, Respect, There is no specific element
Management Fairness PMI
Institute) code of
ethics
Software Code Of Public Interest, Client and employer, There is no specific element
Ethics & Professional Product, Professional Judgment, in this code. 
Practice management, profession, fair and
supportive of colleagues, self

TASK 3

Four elements that are must in any code of Ethics for Information Technology
Employees in the organization are

 1. Ensuring that all professional computing work, the public good is the central
concern. Just like other professions having this element in the code of ethics is extremely
fundamental. This element guides how IT professionals interact with other stakeholders, i.e.,
employers, clients, other employees, and any other person affected directly or indirectly.

2.   Exercise Honesty and Trustworthiness. This is a very important element, especially in the IT
profession. As a technical profession, professionals in the field need to be honest, sincere and
 above all the person to be entrusted by everyone while providing crucial information concerning
a system. There will be capabilities, limitations and other potential problems, and this is because
most people are not competent with the technical dynamics of the IT systems which misled. So it
the responsibility of the IT professionals to provide honest, truthful and provide correct
information.

3. Maintaining privacy. Privacy has been and remains to be a very critical issue, especially in the
Information Technology Industry. The reason is that IT professionals are exposed to personal and
very sensitive information every day. According to Tech giants IBM, there will be around 40
trillion gigabytes of digital data in the coming year, 2020. The technology has enabled the
collection, monitoring, and distribution of personal data as fast as possible with less economic
impact without the knowledge of the IT professionals should, therefore, have a guideline on how
to collect and use personal information. Computing professionals are commonly dealing with the
organization’s private information such as client data, financial information, patent data, business
strategy information and so on. Therefore, IT professionals should maintain a high level of
privacy by honoring confidentiality.

4.   Acquiring and Maintaining Professional Competence: IT professionals must be able to work
competently and be able to represent their skills, knowledge, and services honestly. Since it is a
very dynamic industry, ICT professionals must commit themselves to constantly enhance and
develop their skills to suit the changing needs. They can do this by staying current to everything
that pertains to information technology.

Two elements that could be optional in the code of ethics developed for the ICT employees in
the organization are

1.  Creating avenues for individuals to grow as professionals: Organization plays an important in
shaping employees personal and professional growth. Helping their employees constantly to
improve their skills by exposing them to relevant opportunities will ultimately benefit the
company in the long run. It is not an element which is related to only the IT profession, and
therefore, it is optional in our IT code of ethics.

2. Managed Conflicts of interest. In the course of discharging their duties, IT professionals may
come into situations that may be or else perceived to cause a conflict of interest. They are
therefore supposed to inform the stakeholders involved in these kinds of interests. Managing
conflict of interest is an important element for IT employees. However, it is optional since the
situations of this nature are not very common.

TASK 4:

Outline of a Code of Ethics for the ICT employees in our organization.

1. Give customers priority all the time. If they need any assistance, it will always be the
responsibility of staff members to take care of them. Moreover, solving the problems more
consistently in the interest of the public. Besides this, Information Technology has a significant
impact on changing the living standards of many people. It also has some limitations. With the
right ethical method, professionals can quickly identify these impacts. Recognizing the health
hazards and supporting safety is one of the examples. High-level maintenance of Honesty can
also form a potential ethical policy. It means deceiving clients, taking the bribing, and
misguiding them, will not be tolerated (ACS Code of Ethics, 2014).

2. Protecting the organization resources plays a vital role in a professional working

environment. Using organizations' computer, laptops, and the internet for illegal purposes and
cyberslacking should be prohibited. Therefore, it is the responsibility of every employee to
protect the company's valuable assets, which play an indispensable role in organizing work and
making the monetary profit for the company. Similarly, every employee should be able to
represent his/her company very well with high commitments and always try to engage in the
process of improving to achieve an excellent result in the workplace (BCS Code of Ethics, 2001).

3. Develop the software by keeping in mind about the public interest. Develop the software
without any risk. The software should meet the general requirement with excellent security.
Except this, a software developer should think about all the concerned and matters with regards
to software user download, install and maintain designed applications. For this, listen to all the
software specifications from the user and make sure documenting your designed software very
well. Testing and debugging the software application until it is perfect and peer review is another
important technique. So, by going through all the software design phases, ask feedback from the
clients, whether designed applications meet their requirements (Software Engineering Code of
Ethics and Professional Practice, 2001, page 232-235).

4. There should not be any discrimination based on caste, color, religion, race, disability
sex, age, and language. All employees should behave reasonably in groups, as all of them have
equal rights. Next, everyone will respect others' private information details. Computer experts
can access each other private information where legal boundaries finish. Minimum and necessary
information should be in computer systems for obtaining access to the resources and applications.
In the same manner,  employees should not disclose client information, company's secret details,
research activities, and patent software. Computer professionals should have through knowledge
of their designated discipline. If they feel a lack of expertness for their projects, they should
inform their employer and client. After that, the employer and client determine whether to do the
project with the same professional or not (ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, 2018).

5. The organization will be responsible for making the decision. It will take only those
projects which are similar to our experience, skills, and expertise. It usually decides by keeping
welfare concept in mind so that a large number of people take advantage. Our company must
complete all its commitments. Our organization always perform work within professional
standards and follow all rules and regulations strictly. Therefore, we also expect the same from
all of our employees. We support legal actions if we find someone breaks the ethics (PMI Code
of Ethics and Professional Conduct, 2011)

REFERENCES

 ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. (2018). Retrieved

from https://www.acm.org/binaries/content/assets/about/acm-code-of-ethics-booklet.pdf 
 ACS Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct | Essay writing Assignment | Best Online Assignment
Services. (2019). Retrieved from http://www.essaywritingassignment.com/ew_blog/acs-code-of-
ethics-and-professional-conduct/
 ACS Code of Ethics. (2014). ACS Code of Professional Conduct Retrieved
from https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/acs-documents/ACS%20Code-of-Professional-
Conduct_v2.1.pdf 
 BCS Code of Conduct. (2001). Retrieved from http://cgi.csc.liv.ac.uk/~comp39x/2008-
09/BCS_CoC.pdf 
 BCS Code of Conduct. (2019). Retrieved from https://cdn.bcs.org/bcs-org-media/2211/bcs-code-of-
conduct.pdf
 Bowern, M., Burmeister, O., Gotterbarn, D., & Weckert, J. (2006). ICT Integrity: Bringing the ACS
Code of Ethics up to date. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 13(2). Retrieved from
https://journal.acs.org.au/index.php/ajis/article/view/50
 Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct. (2019). Retrieved from
https://www.pmi.org/about/ethics/code
 ethical-decision-making-framework.pdf. (2019). [Ebook]. Retrieved from
https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/ethics/ethical-decision-making-
framework.pdf?sc_lang_temp=en
 Gotterbarn, D., & Miller, K. W. (2009). The public is the priority: Making decisions using the
software engineering code of ethics. Retrieved from https://ieeexplore-ieee-
org.libproxy.murdoch.edu.au/document/5199596
 Gotterbarn, D., Miller, K., Rogerson, S., Barber, S., Barnes, P., Burnstein, I., ... & Jayaram, N. (2001).
Software engineering code of ethics and professional practice. Science and Engineering
Ethics, 7(2), 231-238. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/278417404_Software_Engineering_Code_of_Ethics_and
_Professional_Practice
 Graham, Ruth.,Low, Graham. (2014).ACS Code of Professional Conduct. Retrieved from
https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/rules-and-regulations/Code-of-Professional-
Conduct_v2.1.pdf. (2019). [Ebook].
 PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. (2011). Retrieved
from https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/ethics/pmi-code-of-ethics.pdf 
 Raza. (2019). Software Engineering Code Of Ethics And Professional Practice. Retrieved from
https://www.slideshare.net/SaqibRaza21/software-engineering-code-of-ethics-and-professional-
practice-83188572
Sofware Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice. (2001). Science and Engineering
Ethics, 7(2), 232-235. Retrieved
from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/278417404_Software_Engineering_Code_of_
Ethics_and_Professional_Practice  
 The Code affirms an obligation of computing professionals to use their skills for the benefit of
society. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.acm.org/code-of-ethics