Transcript Requirements Analysis: Concepts

CSCI102
Introduction to Computing 1B
Week 10 – Wednesday
Social Context of Computing
Bob Brown
SITACS
University of Wollongong
CSCI102
Social Issues
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How does cybertechnology effect:
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Socio-demographic groups
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Social and political institutions
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Social class
Race
Gender
Education
Government
Social sectors
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Workplace
CSCI102
The Digital Divide
 Information
haves and have-nots
 Percieved
gap between those with and
without in access to information tools
and the ability to use them
 Divide
between nations
 Divide within nations
CSCI102
The Digital Divide

Global Digital Divide
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6% of the world population is online
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2 billion people live without electricity
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‘net access in developing countries is subject to low
bandwidth, slow access, and prohibitive expenses
Literacy is low in many countries

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68% of these in Nth.America & Europe
Most material on the ‘net is in English
Former US VP, Al Gore and the GII initiative for
universal access
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No real result
CSCI102
The Digital Divide
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Digital Divide in the USA
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Universal Service vs. Universal Access
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Universal service concept applied to telephony, now to
internet access
Public Education and the Analog Divide
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Access is not only divided on income but on educational
levels
Monahan:
Analog divide refers to inequalities that predated the
digital technological revolution but continued through
CSCI102
The Digital Divide

Digital Divide as an Ethical Issue
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People denied access to cyber tech are denied
access to resources vital for their well-being?
1.
2.
3.
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Access to knowledge is limited
Ability to participate in politics and receive important
info is restricted
Economic prospects severely limited
Do we have a moral obligation to bridge the
digital divide?
Cybertechnology and the
Disabled
 Tim
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Berners-Lee, director of W3C:
 “the
power of the web is in its universality.
Access by everyone regardless of disability
is an essential aspect”
 Disability
as a social-construct
 Perception of obligation
 Telstra
and teletypewriters
 HREOC 1995 discrimination finding
CSCI102
Race and Cybertechnology
 In
USA
of homes have  1 computer
 41.5% of homes have ‘net access
 86.3% of households earning > US$75kpa
have access
 12.7% earning < $15kpa have access
 51%
Whites
AsianAfricanHispanics
Americans Americans
46.1%
56.8%
23.5%
23.1%
CSCI102
Race and Cybertechnology
 Technology,
Race & Public Policy
 Studies
show web-site developers see little
benefit in developing content for minorities

Since (for example) African-Americans make
up a small user percentage, there is little
incentive for non-African-Americans to develop
material targeted for that audience
CSCI102
Race and Cybertechnology
 Rhetoric
& Racism
 Exclusion
built-in to public policy

Thoughtlessness:
effect of highways running through low-income and
minority areas
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Blatant racism:
civic design for social engineering
CSCI102
Gender and Cybertechnology
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Access Issues
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In most societies, Women are certainly not actively
denied access to cybertechnology but still make
up a small and shrinking percentage of industry
professionals

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Early education socialization?
As with racial minorities, lower number of
representatives in the owners and creators
=
lower representation in content and access
corridors
CSCI102
Gender and Cybertechnology
 Gender
Bias and Educational Software
 Studies
showed that learning programmes
designed for cybertechnology matched to a
male-stereotype
CSCI102
Employment and Work
 Job
Displacement & Automation
 Cybertechnology
has created or displaced
jobs?
Lost in some sectors
 Created in others
 = JOB DISPLACEMENT
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 Linked
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to automation
Neo-Luddites
CSCI102
Employment and Work
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Robotics & Expert Systems
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Robots capable of multiple tasks
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Expert systems
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Low cost
High productivity
A primitive form of AI
Replacement for experience?
Mobile Agents
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Commercial agents & online auctions
Intelligent reactive planners
CSCI102
Employment and Work
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Virtual Organisations & Remote Work
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Telecommuting
Office automation
Anywhere connectivity & PAN leads to
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Virtual organisations
Virtual teams
Virtual corporations
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= virtual work ? ;)
Telecommuting may assist the disabled
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Or result in new forms of discrimination
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Restricted to hidden off-site tasks
Removed from the work society
CSCI102
Quality of Work Life
 Health
 VDU
and Safety Issues
radiation
 RSI
 Typists-neck
 Stress
CSCI102
Quality of Work Life
 Employee
Stress, Workplace
Surveillance and Computer Monitoring
 The
invisible supervisor
 Keystroke capture
 “PC anywhere”
 Email monitoring
 Phone logs
 Video surveillance
Employee Autonomy and
Privacy
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CSCI102
Proposal 1: (Marx & Sherizen 1991)
An Ethics for Employee Monitoring
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Job related data collection only
Employers provide advanced notice &
mechanisms for appeal
Verification of machine-collected data prior to it
being used for employee evaluation
Employee access to the data on themselves
Monetary redress for violation of rights or negative
reporting through machine error
“statute of limitations” on data collected
Employee Autonomy and
Privacy
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CSCI102
Proposal 2: (Introna 2001)
An Alternative Strategy
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Employees don’t fear surveillance as such, but the
choices their bosses may make based on the data
collected
Asymmetry of power, where employer holds all the
power – a concern for workplace justice
Total privacy -> employee fraud
Total transparency -> loss of worth, trust & morale
Need a framework that distributes privacy and
transparency
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This is a complex ethical issue