IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Spring 2014 - 38
As Srour [15] remarks, there is a
risk that an economic power could
induce partiality and allow unfair
standards of conduct to be used to
justify opportunistic conveniences
with discriminatory and unethical
discourse.
It is worth noting here that the
adoption of some assumptions
might lead to thoughtless choices
that have not even been noticed as
such. As a result, a network may
have been installed at technically
incorrect points, or it prioritizes
information from certain areas, or
it collects data of interest to certain
groups and the final reports are
generated with manipulation of the
collected information, which leads
to unreliable statistical results - to
name but a few possible problems.
Finally, the technopoly takes
full control, undisputed since the
decisions were supposedly "technical options" in order to achieve
progress and welfare for all.
informational structures of the
smart cities must apply best practices and models in order to transcend traditional decision-making
processes. Examples of best practices and models include return of
investments in information storage,
defense against manipulation, and
quality assurance in citizen services, regardless of any economic
factors. Vasquez [17] explains that
deciding and acting in concrete
situations is a practical-moral problem that refers to responsibility, in
which the freedom and determinism of the human acts pertain to
the realm of ethics.
According to Garcia [18], in the
face of a new reality, society should
act in a structured and comprehensive way to avoid solutions that
meet only the mere sum of private
interests. The transforming power
of reality should not be based only
on economic power, and should
encompass ethical values.
At What Point Does
Transcendence Become
Possible?
Proposal of an Ethical System
In a scenario where society is
developing digital smart cities,
ICTs and communication highways, deployed by governments
and companies with varied interests play a key role. But if society
decides that it is necessary that
development is guided by an ethical commitment to the social good,
then who would ensure that all
decisions comply to that commitment and who would accept the
challenge to constantly reinforce it
and make it transparent?
Decisions in the field of information technology (IT) refer to
IT governance guidelines that,
according to Costa [16], refer to
the assignment of responsibilities and decision rights and to the
respect for principles, so that this
process evolves transparently and
achieves the business objectives of
the organizations.
In this broader context, the
organizations responsible for the
38
|
According to Elizondo [19], the
ethical perspective of technology
encompasses economic, social,
institutional, and environmental
dimensions, and is not limited to scientific and technological contexts.
The role of ethics is to establish
limits by means of codes, ordinances, rules, and laws that express
social values and guide decisions.
Although most laws and regulations
aim at altruistic values, according to
pereira and Fonseca [20] there is an
inconsistency between ethical discourse and the political and technological decisions.
In this context, one has to afford
ethical discourse the possibility of
effectively influencing the reality,
contributing to a new social scene
entailed by smart cities. To make
possible the proposal of an ethical
perspective, Elizondo [19] states
that its implementation would take
place through the structuring of a
system consisting of axioms, values, norms, and finally, a set of
evaluation criteria.
This work proposes, as a contribution to that matter, an anthropocentric axiom, as a perspective
that places the human being in the
center of society and of its ethical
values, without ignoring the human
responsibility towards other beings,
whose lives have a value that is
comparable to ours, and towards
the planet itself.
From that axiom it is possible to
establish a set of values, ethical values applied to attitudes, behaviors,
situations, objects, etc., because
human beings are also sociohistorical beings. In practice, these
values help us understand more
clearly the scope of social goals.
When properly structured on a
scale, values ensure safety in times
of crisis, strong social structures,
and efficient political institutions.
In this proposal some fundamental
values are emphasized, such as:
■
■
■
■
Human dignity, with respect to
full human development, guaranteeing fundamental individual rights to everyone;
Freedom, combining cosmopolitanism of minds, individual autonomy, democracy,
and transparency of ideas and
motivations;
True altruism, in which prevail
scruples and respect for the
interests of all; and
Justice in which equality and
fairness are ingredients of an
authentic citizenship.
In this context, a decision
depends on a hierarchy of values in
which each value is subordinated
to a higher one in such a way that
the most fundamental values are
highlighted. The reasons for that
hierarchy of values are manifold,
and must not be subject to particular situations. In order to be fully
accepted it requires the participation of all.
The third element in the ethical
system is represented by norms.
These norms connect the values to
real situations, allowing decisions to
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