The 12 Principles of Ethical Modernization

The 12 Principles of Ethical Modernization

“A human being, on the other hand, is a source of a certain kind of change; for conduct is change.” -Aristotle, Eudaemonic Ethics

Philosophical & Moral Examination

1. Ethical conduct does not solely depend on external codes of ethics given to me, but of my own philosophical and moral examination. 

I am not apathetic to the influence that my contribution in technology will have on the future. I understand that the future is up to the individual technologist. My ethics come from a place of self-determination, philosophical inquiry, and morality. I am able to identify that the inherent good or bad of any endeavor is on a spectrum. I will analyze and accept potential risks I will be held accountable for. My current technical endeavors have a consideration for the ethical future I want to help create. 

Legality

     2. I understand that law and legality is a lower bound for ethics, and I do not assume what is   legal is ethical. 

Technologists should not conflate the absence or existence of legality as the absence or existence of ethical behavior. I recognize that technological progress is faster than law, which will always be catching up to the current ethical problems. Ethical technologists should seek to apply creativity and innovation to promote legality in the areas of innovation and technology, not to weaken it. 

Transparency

     3. Transparency in the application of technology is invaluable. 

I understand that the trust held by the end users and other technologists is invaluable, and depends on their understanding of how my systems work. It is less up to the end user to search for the intentions of the endeavor. With data and information, I recognize the creation of black boxes which hide non-critical information press against ethical boundaries.

Transparency of Motivation, Funding, and Acquisition

   4. The end-users’ interaction with the endeavor are the result of upstream components including investors, funding, acquisition processes, and overall motivations.

The overall motivations and Intentions of endeavors can be measurably demonstrated with sources of funding, investments, and acquisition processes.  All technical endeavors are a result of upstream influences and processes, and the work that I do is not in isolation or exception from the intentions of these factors. I can exercise ethical modernization by scrutinizing these measurable components. 

Downstream Components and Uses

     5. Ethical endeavors communicate what happens downstream after the user’s experience with the endeavor, including use of data. 

Ethical endeavors accept the responsibility to surface downstream components,  reuse or sale of user data and the involvement of third parties that may concern them. I understand that the trust held by the end users and colleagues is invaluable. 

Best practices/Cybersecurity/Compliance

   6. I have a responsibility to produce reliable and safe products from my endeavors, a key part of which is full compliance with current security principles. 

Ethical modernization relies on the efficient execution of compliance measures and cybersecurity protocols. Compliance and diligence of cybersecurity are not barriers to innovation, but critical components that are of equal importance to the potential for good. In addition, products can let users down with failures in the system or breaches in security. In order to bring valuable results, my endeavors place safety equally to features.  Cybersecurity and testing are not afterthoughts but an equal consideration for success. A part of implementing reliable technology is improving the process of achieving reliability.

Dialogue and Activism 

     7.   Ethical use of technology for modernization in my Organization and in Government  requires activism and dialogue. 

I understand that ethics happens in a community, and in active dialogue.  It is up to me and my colleagues to make a concerted effort to dissuade from the improper use of information technology to achieve unethical motives.I strongly believe in dialogue. I desire to act with bravery, resistance, and scrutiny of endeavors that have unethical basis. 

Workforce and Environment

   8.  I strive to minimize harm to individuals and third parties and to the overall social and physical environment. Even beyond my own industry, the dignity, the pursuit of happiness, and development of individuals is worth striving for.

My endeavor is part of a larger world that I aim to improve. Through the endeavors that I choose, I have the power to facilitate the dignity, pursuit of happiness, and development of the workforce and end-users beyond my own industry.  As the uses of technology are infinite, the endeavors I take on mean to create a safer, more productive environment for workers, rather than to replace them. I have the power to improve our physical environment through more efficient use of resources. My endeavor is aimed at improving civil society by providing tools aimed at facilitating constructive dialogue across the spectrum.

Customer Experience, Employee Experience 

   9. I seek to add measurable value in the journey of the customer and the employee by using  human-centered design in my endeavors and to apply meaningful solutions for problems, rather than to obfuscate the experience. 

 I will seek education about the holistic implementation of human centered design that benefits the internal employee experience and to the external products and end-users. Human-centered design in some ways encroaches on the tech-first approach. Tech-first approach is proving to be ineffective at harnessing the full potential of technology and the ingenuity of technologists. Governments and organizations should not be seeking use cases for emerging technology. I should help shift the paradigm to a more human-centered approach, to highlight the actual problem we aim to fix with technology, and then help seek the technical solution that would best solve the issue. 

Accessibility

    10. I seek to democratize what was previously inaccessible or to add tangible value to the customer and employee experiences.

The endeavors I seek should add value to the economy by democratizing what was previously inaccessible or improve the customer and employee experience. I understand the difference between democratizing a service or industry, rather than aiming to disrupt with technology. In order to do this, I will use human centered design techniques and strategies. 

I recognize the diversity of people, with different abilities, different backgrounds, speaking different languages, and living in different environments, and make an effort to accommodate as much diversity in my users as feasible. I do not expect my users to look and think like I do.

Value-Added Creations

 11. I understand the relationship between economic utility, in contrast to value created with eudæmonic purpose. 

I do not conflate maximizing profits with maximizing value. Much like the environment, individual actions that are short-term beneficially to two parties in the free market can have detrimental effects on the market and society at large, and could lead to political instability and social disruption. All technology endeavors should negotiate the trade off between economy utility and eudæmonic values. 

Diversity, Inclusion, Bias

12. Technology and technologists are a mirror of society and of the maker. It takes both the actions of individual allies and the mechanisms of systemic change for an ethical future of technology. 

I understand that technology is not an entity separate from humanity. Many people will look to digitization, modernization, automation to influence or advance society’s ailments like racism, ageism, or sexism. This is not possible. Technology is a powerful facilitator of human actions. Only humans can advance society but technology can amplify. We should evaluate the most accurate state of both individual and social realities of the modernization as a factor and requirement when selecting endeavors. Likewise, the technology workforce is vulnerable to display amplified demonstrations of these social ailments because the speed and complexity.