Communication Skills For Singapore Computer Society: A Comparison Of Codes Of Ethics

Overview of Codes of Ethics for Singapore Computer Society and Australian Computer Society

Discuss about the Communication Skills for Singapore Computer Society.

The codes of ethics chosen are the Irish Computer Society (ICS) Code of Ethics and the Singapore Computer Society (SCS) Code of Ethics which are to be compared to the Australian Computer Society (ACS) Code of Ethics.  They form part of the computer society constitution and apply to all the computer society members not considering their role or specific expertise areas in the ICT industry (ACS Code of Ethics, 2018). It is a must for the members to endorse and advance the dignity, effectiveness, and honor of being a professional (“Ethics and the ICS Code of Conduct”, 2018). Besides, it does not only look at the professional side alone but also the side of the law whereby it expects the members guided by the code of ethics to be the perfect example of a good citizen who adheres to societal values and acts within the law. The code encourages the adherence to societal values that include the public interest primacy, honesty, the enhancement of the quality of life, competence, professionalism, and professional development. It encourages its members to value the public interests more than their personal and business ones. They are expected to add to the quality of life of the people affected by their work and encouraged to be honest at all times especially when representing their skills, services, products, and knowledge. What’s more, the represented IT professionals are expected to work diligently and competently for their stakeholders and enhance not only their professional development but also that of their colleagues and staff. And finally, these codes of ethics require that the IT professionals display professionalism by adding to the integrity of the society as well as to the respect of the members for each other.

The ACS Code and SCS Code have a significant difference with each other. The ACS code is more detailed than the SCS Code. The ACS Code values the public interest much more than those of the private and sectional whereby the public is given the utmost priority when it comes to resolving any conflicts (ACS Code of Ethics, 2018). ACS encourages the recognition and minimizing of the adverse effects of ICT by promoting equal access of its benefits to all members of the society. ACS does not allow the breach of public trust or the trust of stakeholders when working. For the organization, honesty and integrity are of utmost importance and have to underlie all the professional actions and decisions. SCS also encourages its employees to act with integrity at all times (Singapore Computer Society, 2018). ACS encourages its employees to have their knowledge up to date especially with standards, practices, and technologies. SCS members, on the other hand, are expected to act with professionalism in an attempt to improve the prestige of the profession. ACS ensures equal treatment for everyone including their employees regardless of their status in life.

Differences Between Singapore Computer Society and Australian Computer Society Codes

The codes emphasize the commitment to the importance of ethical professional conduct. It values dignity, honor, and effectiveness of professionalism. It consists of various imperatives that are formulated as personal responsibility statements and identifies them as a commitment. It outlines the fundamental ethical considerations, especially to the society. The standards of the ICT industry are constantly changing. Moreover, it is missing more specific considerations of the ICT professional conduct. It only discusses the adherence to societal values and the general moral imperatives but lacks more specific professional responsibilities such as acquiring and maintaining professional competence and accepting and providing an appropriate professional review.

The best rudiments of the ACS Code of Ethics are the elements of personal responsibility and the relations with the public. It encourages the performance of duties with diligence, honesty, and professionalism (Bledsoe, 2017). Also by putting the primacy of the public interest as the first element of the code of ethics shows that they value the public and does not intend to do anything that would affect their interests. This shows that the organization values the society and ensures they provide people with the best services in an honest and professional way. Alternatively, the worst elements of the Code are competence whereby the professionals are expected to work diligently for their stakeholders. It is true they are expected to work competently, but it should not be for their stakeholders alone. They should be able to work competently and diligently for themselves as well to satisfy their own desires to delivering the best services.  

Some phrases and words in a code of ethics can be interpreted in a lot of ways. Any ethical principle can conflict with other standards in specific situations and the questions allied to ethical conflicts can be answered well through thoughtful consideration of the fundamental principles and not on reliance on detailed regulations. Any code developed should identify the elements of the commitment for the members of an organization. It should have statements of personal responsibility that contains many but not necessarily all of the issues the professionals are likely to go through. It should outline fundamental ethical considerations which apply to individual conduct as a professional. These imperatives should be expressed in a form that is general to lay emphasis on ethical principles showing that computer ethics are imitative of more general ethical principles.

The general moral imperatives should include elements such as the contribution to the society and the well-being of the people, avoiding harm to others and being honest and trustworthy. The principle regarding the quality of life of humans affirms that an organization has an obligation to care for the fundamental human rights and hold with a high opinion the diversity of cultures. Harm can be used to mean negative consequences or injury. This is an important element in a code of ethics as it prohibits an organization from using its resources in a manner that is harmful to others. Honesty is a vital component of trust and without it in an organization, the company cannot function effectively (Australian Computer Society CODE OF ETHICS, 2018). Other general moral elements include being fair, honoring property rights, giving proper credit whenever necessary, respecting other people’s privacy, and honoring confidentiality. The values of tolerance and equality are important. Discrimination on any basis should never be allowed or tolerated. Violating property rights is contrary to professional behavior and should not be condoned with.

Key Elements of a Code of Ethics

A code should have the elements of more specific professional responsibilities. Employees in an organization should strive to attain the highest quality and dignity as well as effectiveness in the process of professional work. Every professional strives for excellence that is why maintaining high-quality products and services is important for all organizations. Excellence, however, depends on persons who take responsibility for obtaining and maintaining professional competence. It is vital to set standards for the suitable levels of competence and to thrive to attain them. Honoring contracts and assigned responsibilities also displays integrity and honesty in more specific professional responsibilities. Another important facet is to know and respect all the existing laws that pertain to professional work. However, in this case, the compliance has to be balanced with the knowledge that some existing rules and laws can at times be inappropriate or immoral and hence have to be challenged. Besides, violating a regulation can at times be ethical when the law conflicts with another law that is deemed more important or if it has an inadequate moral basis. But if one violates a law for any reason, then he or she has to fully accept the responsibility for the consequences.

Some of these elements could be considered optional. It is of the essence for Codes of ethics to have the organizational leadership elements however it is not a must. These elements may include the articulation of social responsibilities of organizational members and encourage the acceptance of the responsibilities. Organizations have an impact on the public and they have to accept responsibilities to the society. That is, organizational leaders should encourage the full participation of their employees in meeting social responsibilities and quality performance. It is the duty of organizational leaders to ensure that their services enhance and not degrade. They should ensure they build work systems that contribute to the improvement of the working life quality. The leadership should also acknowledge and support the proper and authorized use of the resources of the organization. What’s more, the management should not design or implement systems that are deliberately demeaning to others. They should also create opportunities for organizational members to learn the set principles and the issues related to the profession.

Compliance with the code is also an element that could be considered optional. Upholding and promoting the code’s principles is important but its inclusion is optional as the members know that they should comply with the code and encourage as well as support adherence by other employees (Flanagan, 2012). Any violations of the code should not be accepted nor tolerated in spite of adherence to it is largely a voluntary matter.   

Specific Professional Responsibilities

An important professional characteristic is the need of the members to abide by the Code of Ethics. Subscribing to a set of ideas and values is essential to the society as they uphold and advance the dignity and honor as well as effectiveness of the profession. This Code of Ethics framework defines the purpose of the ICT organization. It is a broad set of principles that are intended to educate as well as set up general guidelines that would help guide the conduct of the professionals (Code of Conduct for ICT - EU Science Hub - European Commission, 2018). The framework has an overriding commitment to satisfy the public interest through demonstrating professional competence. The ICT organizations intend to serve the best interest of the society by contributing to its growth (Understanding the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, 2018). It is also about a member of the organization doing something not just because it is legal but because it is right. It is about the duty of the organization to protect the society from the harm or injury the organization may bring to it. This framework shows the organization’s service to the greater good with the public interests given the first priority. Fair practice, respect, and integrity, as well as honesty, reliability, and accountability, are core attributes of the organization. Respecting privacy and honor is also of essence especially when conducting professional practices. It also shows that it is important to acquire professional competence and maintain it since excellence is a very significant obligation of a professional. Setting standards as professionals are the best strategy for individuals to attain professional excellence. Hence, this framework, in general, shows that it is important for every professional to be committed to ethical professional conduct. 

References

ACS Code of Ethics. (2018). Acs.org.au. Retrieved 31 March 2018, from https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/acs-documents/Code-of-Ethics.pdf

Australian Computer Society CODE OF ETHICS. (2018). Users.ece.utexas.edu. Retrieved 31 March 2018, from https://users.ece.utexas.edu/~perry/education/SE-Intro/ACS-COE.pdf

Bledsoe, M. (2017). The Importance Of A Code Of Ethics For It Professionals, Career Trend.

Code of Conduct for ICT - EU Science Hub - European Commission. (2018). EU Science Hub. Retrieved 31 March 2018, from https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/energy-efficiency/products/coc

Ethics and the ICS Code of Conduct. (2018). Ics professionalism. Retrieved 1 April 2018, from https://www.ics.ie/professional/ics-code-of-ethics

Flanagan, P. (2012). The ISBT code of Ethics and the altruistic donor. ISBT Science Series, 7(1), 303-306.

Singapore Computer Society. (2018). Singapore Computer Society Code of Conduct. Retrieved 31 March 2018, from https://www.scs.org.sg/membership/membership_code_of_conduct.php

Understanding the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. (2018). Cips.ca. Retrieved 31 March 2018, from https://www.cips.ca/?q=system/files/understand_coe2006.pdf