IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Spring 2014 - 39

be taken in the accomplishment of
duties. Deontological theories assert
that the duty must be determined
by rules with permanent validity,
regardless of the consequences of its
application. An action motivated by
duty regardless of particular interests or inclinations will then be considered morally good. This becomes
possible when the action rests on
human rationality and, in this case,
the rational imperative implies ethical action.
One can find this concept in
Kant's categorical imperative, which
prohibits acts that cannot be universalized, and therefore does not admit
any exceptions in favor of some individuals. As a rule, all participants
involved in the deployment of smart
cities are asked to act in compliance
with this universal requirement.
A last point to be considered in
the proposition of an ethical system
is the evaluation system, which will
determine if a situation fits into
what was established as acceptable
within the system. It is proposed
here that the determination of what
is right does not depend on fixed
rules, in such a way that it could
be simplistic and decontextualized
or could cover for inappropriate
actions. The rules must overarch all
sorts of consequences arising from
a particular decision.
In order to be comprehensive, we
suggest resorting to teleology or to
the ethics of responsibility to uphold
everyone's responsibility in face of
all kinds of actions and decisions.
It is worthwhile emphasizing
here the reactions that may arise
when one sheds light on unethical
attitudes, such as a kind of argument that attempts to justify and
conceal all the vices of the decisions without clearly explaining
them. As Moraes [21] remarks, the
fragility of human discourse lies in
that it can be used to clarify as well
as to disguise its essence behind
obscure words. So we should be
aware in order not to allow the
denial of responsibilities. The
decision-makers must assume their

responsibilities, and the society
must demand that from them.
In the context of the actions
related to the deployment of smart
cities, we propose a new role for
IT Governance: to add an ethical
dimension to the realm of responsibilities that arise in face of this
new reality, and formulating and
issuing guidelines that encompass
this new perspective. One should
assign rights and responsibilities,
in order to allow audit mechanisms
and security measures, supported
by supervisory committees that
can evaluate the IT activities and
operations to identify and mitigate
ethical problems and ensure total
transparency.
This is not a simple task, since
according to Mitchan [22], technology poses many challenges to
ethics, let alone the tendency of the
technopolistic arguments to escape
any ethical responsibilities.

Possible Praxis?
In order to ensure that intelligent
and distributed information systems effectively correspond to the
ethical expectations of society,
how is it possible to protect society against the fallibility of all
these actors and prevent them from
engaging in misconduct? This
seems to be the biggest challenge.
According to Srour [15], when the
ethical issue is widespread it is up
to the entire society to organize
itself to create the means to audit
and supervise the decisions. Thus
we propose here the establishment
of technical procedures aimed
at expanding the boundaries of
IT Governance practices, so that
informational structures are transparent and always respectful to the
agreed values and principles, as
protectors of democracy.
As remarked by Mitchan [22], the
concept of "responsibility" is a recent
concern in the area of ICTs, and only
after undergoing a wide range of
legal, philosophical, and religious
contexts has it found its application
in science and technology.

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

SprING 2014

Currently, civil liability applies
to workplaces and to the potential
hazards of some products. It would
therefore be necessary to extend
this principle to the new dimensions that result from the expansion
of technological power.
It is worth recalling the reflections of Jonas [14], who anticipated
the transcendence of the new living
standards, and of the non-application of the traditional ethical view.
Such an outdated understanding
of ethics required a new conception of duties, responsibilities, and
rights in which these values should
consider the future consequences
of procedures whose effects could
damage society. The question that
emerges refers to the fact that certain attitudes are not guided by
ethical responsibility, or by the
organizations in charge of digital
governance, which create norms
and rules, without even conceiving
of such a reality.
Finally, some might take advantage of supposed technical neutrality in the name of efficiency
and, with the blessing of the technopoly, would deny their responsibilities, and wouldn't even be
questioned about the possible consequences of their actions for the
future of society.

Essential to Add an Ethical
Dimension
The considerations in this article
can be enriched by the concerns
raised in the Unesco Earth Charter [23] which call for stronger
democratic institutions at all
levels and for more transparency
and publicity in the exercise of
power, including participation in
decision-making and the access
to justice.
Therefore, we ask for the presence of institutions to account for
the deployment of new smart cities
in conformance with their original
purposes. It is of great importance
to point out the hidden risks behind
decisions that might go unnoticed
within society simply because they
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