Module #5: Computer science and engineering
Leaders: Ed Gehringer and Tom Honeycutt, NC State
Members: Gene Spafford, Purdue; Morris Chang, ISU; Guri Sohi, UW; Philip Johnson, UH; Derreck Dunn, NC A&T; David Preston, FSU; Alan Eaton, SAS; and David Wright, Research Ethics Jr. Fellow, NC State.
Target Departments: All engineering and life science departments
Computers and the software that makes them work have penetrated into nearly
every niche of modern life. Manufacturing, transportation, communications, medical care, financial, and government systems, among others, are highly dependent
upon computers and software systems. This places the disciplines of Computer
Science and Software Engineering in a particularly critical position, wielding more influence over the day-to-day lives of people all over the world than any other
single field of research and application. Writing about engineering in general,
Bugliarello[2005] notes that "...ethics of engineering must go beyond broad generalities and codes of professional good conduct modeled after the Hippocratic oath."
Little of modern engineering could be accomplished without computers and software, and computer scientists and software engineers must be aware of the broad range of ethical responsibilities that come with being direct or indirect enablers of change.