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CPSR Computer Professionals | Technology is driving the future ...<br>
for Social Responsibility | it is up to us to do the steering.<br>
<br>
<br>
Version: 2005-11-11 002<br>
<br>
Parallel Event of the United Nations World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS), Tunis, 16-18 2005.<br>
<br>
“The Role of Computer Science and Engineering Professions in Achieving
WSIS Goals”<br>
<br>
Sponsored by Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR)<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.cpsr.org">http://www.cpsr.org</a> <br>
<br>
Kram (Summit Venue)<br>
Tunis, Tunisia<br>
16 November 2005 <br>
11:00 - 13:00<br>
Room: Le Kram<br>
<br>
<br>
1.Confirmed Panelists<br>
<br>
Michael Gasser, Department of Computer Science, Indiana University<br>
David Hakken, School of Informatics, Indiana University<br>
Eden Medina, School of Informatics, Indiana University<br>
<br>
2.Conveners<br>
<br>
William McIver, Jr. (CPSR) Douglas Schuler
(CPSR) <br>
National Research Council Evergreen State College<br>
Institute for Information Technology Olympia, Washington USA<br>
Fredericton, NB Canada <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Bill.McIver@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca">Bill.McIver@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:douglas@cpsr.org">douglas@cpsr.org</a><br>
<br>
3.Panel Chair<br>
<br>
William McIver, Jr.<br>
<br>
4.Description<br>
<br>
This panel will examine the central role that the computer science and
engineering professions play in shaping the information society and how
they can serve in helping to realize the goals set by the World Summit
on the Information Society (WSIS).<br>
<br>
5.Background and Motivation<br>
<br>
There has been relatively little discussion within the WSIS process
about the research, engineering, and implementation processes and
professions that produce the information and communication technologies
(ICT) which give rise to the policy issues under debate. The focus has
been instead – and necessarily -- on addressing the direct and indirect
effects of ICT production and use and to a lesser extent on how the
characteristics of ICT might be leveraged to either address human needs
or violate human rights. The processes and professions that produce ICT
might be said to exist as “black boxes” relative to the policy debate.
In an abstracted view of this, the computing and engineering
professions are arguably the most responsible for the generation of the
technological artifacts and complex systems that yield the transitive
social, political, and economic phenomena to which the WSIS is
necessarily responding, yet these professions and their approaches have
been subject to only minor scrutiny and calls for accountability within
the WSIS framework. <br>
<br>
In general and in the WSIS in particular, major exceptions to this view
can be cited. Factors outside of technology production, such as policy
decisions giving impetus to ICT production and end user behaviours and
trends, must obviously be taken into account when assessing the sources
and causes of social, political, and economic phenomena. It is also
the case that attention to such areas as free and open software,
technical education, and community informatics in the WSIS implies at
least a partial focus on how ICT are produced. Nevertheless, there is
arguably a need for an even greater focus on these issues since poor
design choices and their resulting impacts are more difficult to fix
later in the process. Thus, the policy debate must begin within what is
now the “black box.”<br>
<br>
The evolution of thinking and practice within the computing and
engineering professions has seen the gradual erosion of boundaries of
concern between technology design and production and the assessment and
response to the resulting potential or realized impacts. According to
this thinking, iterative and participatory interactions should occur
between all stakeholders throughout the life cycle of any technology.
This shift in thinking is still a long way from where it needs to be,
but is reflected in significant ways in the development of research and
development methodologies across a number of academic and professional
disciplines, as well as the evolution of a concurrent outward focus
(i.e. from the computing and engineering professions) on relevant
social contexts. For example, in this latter regard, members of these
professions have engaged in important ways in the WSIS process. These
engagements might be seen as both attempts to: (1) inform the WSIS
process from expert technical perspectives and (2) be informed by the
perspectives of others present in the process as a way of evolving
their own practice. External perspectives here include those of policy
makers, advocates in specific issue areas (e.g. human rights and ICT),
and those engaged at a practical level in social and economic
development. In contrast, there has been little corresponding
engagement in the WSIS process in the other direction by stakeholders
outside of the technical professions to understand how ICT production
might be improved in ways beneficial to to the policy landscape.<br>
<br>
Has an end-user or “black box” perspective on ICT development processes
been in effect in the WSIS process? How might external engagement with
the computing and engineering professions and the processes they use
alter the post-WSIS ICT policy landscape for the better? What can be
done within the computing and engineering professions to improve the
chances of realizing the WSIS goals?<br>
<br>
Please join us for this discussion.<br>
<br>
6.Contact<br>
<br>
William McIver, Jr.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Bill.McIver@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca">Bill.McIver@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca</a> or <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:wmciver@acm.org">wmciver@acm.org</a> <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Bill McIver
e-Government / e-Citizen Group
National Research Council Canada Institute for Information Technology
e-mail: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:bill.mciver@nrc.gc.ca">bill.mciver@nrc.gc.ca</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://iit-iti.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/r-d/e-government-gouvernement-e_e.html">http://iit-iti.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/r-d/e-government-gouvernement-e_e.html</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://iit-iti.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/r-d/e-government-gouvernement-e_f.html">http://iit-iti.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/r-d/e-government-gouvernement-e_f.html</a></pre>
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