BCS ICT Ethics SG Annual General Meeting Held on 28

BCS ICT Ethics SG Annual General Meeting
ICT Ethics
Specialist Group
Held on 28th October 2014, 6.15pm-8pm
BCS London offices, First Floor, The Davidson Building,
5 Southampton Street, London WC2 7HA.
Minutes
1. Welcome and Introductions
The Chair welcomed all to the evening event which included a presentation from Committee
Members Bernd Stahl and Marina Jirotka (given prior to the AGM business meeting).
Committee members present: Penny Duquenoy (Chair), Dan Bowen, Jennifer Dean, Don
Gotterbarn (via Skype), Marina Jirotka, Bernd Stahl, Anna Vartapetiance.
Note: Ian Thornton-Bryar due to attend via dial-in conference facility (which was not operational
on the night). Other ICT Ethics SG members had also signed to attend via dial-in.
2. Apologies for absence
Apologies were received from Committee members: Ian Fish (Membership secretary), Aygen
Kurt-Dickson, and Denise Oram (Secretary and Treasurer).
Other apologies received: Therese Cory, James Hammond, Diane Whitehouse.
3. Minutes of the previous AGM
The Minutes of the 2013 Annual General Meeting had been circulated previously to the
Committee (following the 2013 meeting) and available on the ICT Ethics SG web site for
members. All members were notified of the availability of the 2013 AGM Minutes prior to this
meeting. No amendments had been requested following their publication, or since the
notification of this meeting. The Minutes were therefore agreed as a correct record of the event.
4. Matters arising from the Minutes
There were no matters arising.
5. Report from the Chair on the year’s activities
The Chair presented a set of slides on the year’s activities, including the keynote presentation
from the previous AGM (still available on Youtube and in the last year accessed almost 200 times)
presentations given representing the group, communications with members (Newsletters and
emails for interim notices of relevant events and publications) and noted the ICT Ethics SG web
page with links to summaries of events, newsletters and other relevant material.
Membership had increased over the year (450+), representing a range of sectors - Industry
(corporations and SME’s); Health Sector; Government; Consultants; Academics; Students. Most
members are from the UK, others from elsewhere around the world – Europe, Africa, Asia,
Australasia, Middle East and United States.
6. Report from the Treasurer
In the absence of the Treasurer (apologies given above) the Chair presented the slides provided
by the Treasurer. In summary, out of a total budget allocation of £850 the group had used £532
(to end August 2014). The main costs were for catering (at BCS London), speaker’s expenses, and
travel/subsistence (for meetings and events).
7. Election of committee members
Details of all current committee members (2013-14) who wished to stand again had been sent in
advance of the AGM to the SG members, as well as a request for new members wishing to join
the committee to contact the Chair. A handout with the biographies of the committee members
was given to all those attending the meeting. All current officers (chair, treasurer, secretary,
membership secretary) were willing to continue in their roles. No other nominations had been
received.
Jennifer Dean took over to manage the voting procedure. All committee members standing
again for election were re-elected in a block vote. All committee members were re-elected:
Dan Bowen, Caspar Bowden, Jennifer Dean, Penny Duquenoy, Ian Fish, Don Gotterbarn, Marina
Jirotka, Aygen Kurt-Dickson, Denise Oram, Bernd Carsten Stahl, Ian Thornton-Bryar, Anna
Vartapetiance.
Election of officers:
Officers elected: Penny Duquenoy as Chair (nominating: Bernd Stahl, seconded Anna
Vartapetiance), Denise Oram as Treasurer and Secretary (nominating: Anna Vartapetiance,
seconded Marina Jirotka), and Ian Fish as Membership Secretary (nominating Dan Bowen,
seconded Marina Jirotka).
8. Any other business
The Chair proposed to the meeting that Ian Thornton-Bryar be nominated for Council, the
proposal was seconded and unanimously agreed at this meeting.
9. Closing remarks
The Chair thanked members for their participation, and gave particular thanks to Bernd Stahl
and Marina Jirotka for their pre-meeting presentation on Responsible Innovation and to Dan
Bowen (committee member) who had organised remote participation through video recording,
streaming the presentation live, uploading the recording to YouTube and being available for
Twitter comments. There were some minor interruptions to the live streaming due to occasional
loss of connectivity (reported through tweets to @BCSEthicsTalks). The presentation is available
at: http://www.YouTube.com/user/TheBCSethicsSG
The abstract for the presentation was sent out prior to the meeting, and is given below.
The Meeting closed at 8pm.
Draft Minutes prepared by Penny Duquenoy
____________________________________
Responsible Innovation in ICT – Challenges for the Profession.
Bernd Carsten Stahl, Marina Jirotka
ICT is ubiquitous and pervasive. It affects all aspects of life and whilst it has the potential to
greatly improve life, it may also do the opposite. ICT professionals play a key role in shaping
technologies and effecting their social consequences.
In recent years the concept of responsible research and innovation (RRI) has been used to
address the issue of the consequences of research and innovation more broadly, by
reflecting on whether the processes and products of research and innovation are acceptable
and socially desirable.
We will discuss what this might mean for ICT professionals. We will present a research
project funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Research Council that sought to establish
a Framework for Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in ICT. The presentation will
cover a study of ICT academics and professionals’ attitudes to RRI, the development of an
Observatory for RRI in ICT and an outline of the resulting Framework.
Attendees will be encouraged to participate by identifying responsible practices using case
studies and reflecting on the way in which the framework can be rendered meaningful for
ICT professionals.
______________________________________
Marina Jirotka is Professor of Human Centred Computing in the Department of Computer Science at
the University of Oxford, Associate Director of the Oxford e-Research Centre and Associate
Researcher of the Oxford Internet Institute. Her research interests have long been concerned with
bringing a richer comprehension of socially organised work practice into the process of engineering
technological systems with a focus on supporting everyday work and interaction. Marina is a
Chartered IT Professional of the BCS and sits on the ICT Ethics Specialist Group committee. She has
published widely in international journals and conferences in e-Science, HCI, and CSCW.
Bernd Carsten Stahl is Professor of Critical Research in Technology and Director the Centre for
Computing and Social Responsibility at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. His interests cover
philosophical issues arising from the intersections of business, technology, and information. This
includes ethical questions of current and emerging of ICTs, critical approaches to information
systems and issues related to responsible research and innovation. He is a member of the BCS ICT
Ethics SG committee.