Category Archives: Blog

Donna Lindskog I.S.P. (ret.) – 03/24/2017

A March 17 CBC podcast calls for a “Code of Ethics for Coders”.  This is an interview with the same Bill Sourour that I listed as having the top ethical dilemma of 2016.

He wants something that says “Never write code that knowingly betrays a user’s trust.”  And he wants an association that will stand behind him to ensure that if he says “no” to a request that would betray trust, a) he will not lose his job and b) nobody else will take the job either.  He may be looking for the CIPS Code of Ethics and our I.S.P. certification. We certainly aim to improve the public trust of Information Technology.

Perhaps Bill Sourour does not know about CIPS. Bill Sourour is working in the Ottawa area, but perhaps he works with many Americans and is arguing for their sake.  The U.S.A. does not have an equivalent of CIPS although they have the ACM and the IEEE and a number of other organizations that have a code of ethics. Read More →

Donna Lindskog I.S.P. (ret.) – 02/09/2017

Trump picked Ajit Pai as the chairman for the FCC.  Pai is known to oppose net neutrality as it is defined by the FCC. Net Neutrality ensures network carriers do not prioritize some traffic over others. IT professionals should be concerned that net neutrality is in danger in the United States.

IT professionals should be speaking up to ensure access to the internet remains fair. We have a responsibility to the public to speak up on technology issues where we are the experts.

The public may not understand how unique the internet is. We know that all the other networks are governed by economics and whoever can pay the most money controls the access and the message.  On the internet the aim is to have all traffic treated the same, nothing blocked or slowed down or routed differently. This allows all the voices/ apps / people to have a fair chance at succeeding. Our job is to protect that right for the public even if they don’t know that they need it. Read More →