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July 2004 |
GIS Ethics: Understanding implications of action
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Whilst [sic] undertaking a site survey for a private sector client, it becomes apparent to you that the client intends to ignore potentially serious environmental impacts of the development of the site. You reflect on your obligations
to your client and to the community. What would you do? (This dilemma was developed by Commission 1 of the International Federation of Surveyors and distributed to members for discussion. Copied from the Commission's newsletter on May 7, 2003.)
- Another company has a contract with city Y to develop an emergency response system. Your friend Ivan has the lead for developing that base address layer. He is using the parcel system that the city provides him. You know that electric utility has slightly more current data, but they would charge the city a high annual fee for that data. Ivan talks to his boss and to the city; they both agree to go with the lower cost solution. You are not convinced and worry that the issue has not had enough public discussion. What should you do?
In both cases, there is a dilemma, a conflict. In the environmental case, the conflict is between obligations to society and obligations to an employer. Worse, if you speak out you risk your professional career, as this firm and others start to see you as a trouble-maker. In the emergency response case, the conflict is between respecting colleagues in the profession and those individuals who could die if the response teams could not locate them. The situation is complicated by the relationship with Ivan and the low probability that an incident would occur during the time gap before the city's parcel system caught up with the utility. We don't have a lot experience dealing with such issues and need help dealing with them.
Kidder talks about How Good People Make Tough Choices (Kidder, Rushworth M. 1995. How Good People Make Tough Decisions, New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc). Their first step is recognizing that a potential problem exists. Quite often the problem is a conflict between two "right" courses of action; it is helpful to remember that obligations to society are pre-eminent. He suggests contemplating proper courses of action indicated by several philosophies in addition to deontology. Ultimately, these good people must decide whether there is sufficient reason to take action and, if so, they act. That action might be as simple as talking to those involved with the problem. After the fact, they continue to reflect on the issue and how they dealt with it, learning from the experience.
The critical issue is to get people to
identify key issues, to discuss implications of alternative
courses of action, to make a decision that they can justify to themselves
The Future
The GIS Certification Institute continues to work to nurture a sense of ethics, even after the Code of Ethics has been adopted and certifying professionals formally ascribe to it. Articles like this one are
one way of building awareness of GIS ethics. There is talk about developing courses on GIS ethics for students and workshops for working professionals. One important task will be to develop case studies. Case studies are a proven way of engaging people in ethical discussions. One important aspect of a good case study is that there is no right answer.
The critical issue is to get people to identify the key issues, to discuss the implications of alternative courses of action, to think about different ways of conceptualizing the problem, and to make a decision that they can justify to themselves. It is always useful to hear different decisions and the process others went through to arrive at them. These exercises are like weight-lifting, where the goal is to develop ethical muscles so we can handle heavy responsibilities when they are given to us.
We can all contribute to these case studies, based on issues we have seen in our professional lives. Case studies work best for people when they are explicitly tied to the experiences of their profession. There are good case studies for health, business, engineering, and other fields, but little for GIS. A good case study contains more details than I have presented above. The case study should be "sanitized" to the extent that it cannot be connected to real-life situation. To do so would engender emotions related to that incident and not respect those who were involved in it. The goal is to engage professionals in thoughtful deliberation for their own personal development, rather than to indict others for past wrong-doing. If you have a case study you would like to share, send it to Nancy Obermeyer, Chair of the GISCI Ethics Committee, at nancyo@indstate.edu.
Case studies aside, there are real ethical dilemmas facing each of us that we must address in order to grow as individuals and as a profession. It is important to face up to these situations and not to ignore them. One useful way to sort things out is to discuss them with colleagues. Verbalizing the problem may help you see things more clearly. The dialog with a colleague could help both of you. GIS professionals tend to think of themselves as competent people whose main concern is keeping current in the technology. We need to admit that we are part of the social world and reflect on the implications of our actions (or inaction). Then we will truly be professionals.
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