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further advantages for the cloud computing sector e.g. improved products
and services, improved workplace behaviours, improved overall quality.
One of the potential key constituents for the promotion of a responsible way of building a culture of trust is the introduction of codes of ethics
specific to cloud computing (Kouatli 2016). Whitehouse et al. (2016)
describe how actors and organisations can make visible their ethical
responsibilities and pledge to meet them in a transparent manner within
codes. Codes may comprise both codes of conduct, which provide guidance in relation to personal conduct of individuals, and codes of ethics
which go beyond the behaviour of individual actors, pertaining to organisations and wider sectoral behaviour. Both involve emphasis on moral
guiding principles e.g. ‘Contribute to society and well-being’; ‘Be honest
and trustworthy’; ‘Respect the privacy of others’; ‘Give proper credit for
intellectual property’ (Association for Computing Machinery 1978 Code,
cited in Whitehouse et al. 2016). Codes thereby are heavily influenced by
Deontological Ethics, which focuses on particular imperatives that are
typically constant over time. Codes normally also provide more contextual
examples to explain how these imperatives might be applied and these
examples might be updated periodically to illustrate the application of
imperatives as pertinent issues change over time e.g. technological
advances. However, codes also focus on balancing different stakeholders’
concerns, and, in so doing, incorporate key Utilitarianism components.
Codes have the capacity to support and affirm common standards that
go beyond cultural differences of users. This is particularly important to
the cloud computing sector, given its global context and the acknowledged difficulties in legislating and regulating in an international environment where different legal, cultural and operational norms may operate in
the different jurisdictions and where trust considerations are dependent
both on the sector and the country (Fujitsu Research Institute 2010).
Whitehouse et al. (2016) suggest that two-part codes of ethics might
be considered, which distinguish between principles and guidance that are
internationally acceptable and those that are locally feasible. It is likely that
reporting of and monitoring of this guidance may be considered a local
issue, given jurisdictional variations. Further, drafting of codes must be
general enough to adapt to new and changing conditions without being
so general that they cannot be of any practical use. They must also be specific enough to provide direction to relevant actors to the extent of being
able to direct them and to also enable stakeholders to hold them to
account.
B. MURPHY AND M. ROCCHI
further advantages for the cloud computing sector e.g. improved products
and services, improved workplace behaviours, improved overall quality.
One of the potential key constituents for the promotion of a responsible way of building a culture of trust is the introduction of codes of ethics
specific to cloud computing (Kouatli 2016). Whitehouse et al. (2016)
describe how actors and organisations can make visible their ethical
responsibilities and pledge to meet them in a transparent manner within
codes. Codes may comprise both codes of conduct, which provide guidance in relation to personal conduct of individuals, and codes of ethics
which go beyond the behaviour of individual actors, pertaining to organisations and wider sectoral behaviour. Both involve emphasis on moral
guiding principles e.g. ‘Contribute to society and well-being’; ‘Be honest
and trustworthy’; ‘Respect the privacy of others’; ‘Give proper credit for
intellectual property’ (Association for Computing Machinery 1978 Code,
cited in Whitehouse et al. 2016). Codes thereby are heavily influenced by
Deontological Ethics, which focuses on particular imperatives that are
typically constant over time. Codes normally also provide more contextual
examples to explain how these imperatives might be applied and these
examples might be updated periodically to illustrate the application of
imperatives as pertinent issues change over time e.g. technological
advances. However, codes also focus on balancing different stakeholders’
concerns, and, in so doing, incorporate key Utilitarianism components.
Codes have the capacity to support and affirm common standards that
go beyond cultural differences of users. This is particularly important to
the cloud computing sector, given its global context and the acknowledged difficulties in legislating and regulating in an international environment where different legal, cultural and operational norms may operate in
the different jurisdictions and where trust considerations are dependent
both on the sector and the country (Fujitsu Research Institute 2010).
Whitehouse et al. (2016) suggest that two-part codes of ethics might
be considered, which distinguish between principles and guidance that are
internationally acceptable and those that are locally feasible. It is likely that
reporting of and monitoring of this guidance may be considered a local
issue, given jurisdictional variations. Further, drafting of codes must be
general enough to adapt to new and changing conditions without being
so general that they cannot be of any practical use. They must also be specific enough to provide direction to relevant actors to the extent of being
able to direct them and to also enable stakeholders to hold them to
account.
B. MURPHY AND M. ROCCHI