THE GOVERNANCE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

摘要

Information and communication technologies (1CT) are ubiquitous but governance in the industry is piecemeal at best. Government regulations and various standards apply to parts of the industry, and professional bodies, the Australian Computer Society (ACS) for example, have some influence on individuals, on professional education and on policies. However, unlike medicine, law, accountancy, or plumbing, there are no regulations concerning who can be employed in ICT. While the ACS and similar professional bodies in other countries can and do have an effect on the industry, given that there is no accreditation or licensing scheme in place for those in ICT, their role is not the same as similar professional organisations in many other professions. The ACS can discipline its members for breaches of its ethical code but that is no barrier to employment and it has no effect on the vast majority of workers in the industry who are not ACS members. It does not follow from this that these professional bodies have no important role to play in the governance of the industry, but it is less formal than in many other professions. As already mentioned, they have input to professional education, to government policy-making, and to industry standards, for software development for example. Additionally they provide codes of ethics and conduct for those in the industry, as well as other information through their publications. These and other activities are designed to improve professionalism in ICT.