Sarah Spiekermann and Niina Zuber: Value-based Engineering and Ethical Agile Software Development

This is a hybrid event that will include two talks:

Talk 1 by Niina Zuber (Bavarian Institute for Digital Transformation) [15:00 – 15:45]
Title: Ethics in Agile Software Development

Abstract – Recent advances in the development and application of software systems are triggering a wide-ranging ethical discourse. Among the much discussed topics are bias, data security, privacy, and the low explainability of algorithms. However, ethical concerns must also be considered in the context of software development in general. Enriching the software development process with ethical deliberation promises to be beneficial and purposeful.

The ethical Deliberation proves thereby as triad:

1. as an identification of values, norms and rules, which is systematically carried out in a disclosive ethics.
2. as a process of consideration that leads to a justified prioritization.
3. as an implementation of values, norms and rules in technical settings.

Ethical deliberation will assist developers to systematically address ethical issues related to specific IT concerns. The implementation of ethical deliberation in agile development practice seems particularly constructive, as agile processes are a widespread standard in software development and provide a favorable basis for ethical deliberation in the development process due to the empowerment of the individual through flat hierarchies or functioning team structures.

Bio:
Dr. Niina Zuber is a scientific officer in the research department at bidt. The ethicist was a research consultant at Cognostics AG (start-up in the field of software development). She focuses on the topics of application-oriented rationality theory, ethical software design, and normative conceptualization of platforms for digital citizen participation. Before joining bidt, she worked for many years at LMU Munich and at the Center for Digitalization Bavaria (ZD.B).

Talk 2 by Sarah Spiekermann (WU Wien) [15:45 – 16:30]
Title: Value-based Engineering (VBE) with IEEE 7000: The New Ethical Model Process for Value-based System Design

Abstract – This talk is going to give the audience an overview of the new ISO/IEEE 24 748-7000 standard, which is the world’s first standardized approach to build ‘ethical machines’. The talk will summarize the 10 principles of VBE and the 3 phases of system development necessary to build a new IT system in a transparent way, informed by moral philosophy, discourse ethics and risk logic. For more information on Value-bade Engineering, see here: https://www.wu.ac.at/value-based-engineering/

Bio:
Since 2009 Sarah Spiekermann is chairing the Institute for Information Systems & Society at Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Vienna). She is a well-regarded scientist, author, speaker and advisor on digital ethics. She published several books, including “Value-based Engineering – A guide to building ethical technology for humanity” (DeGruyter, 2023), “Digital Ethics – A Value System for the 21st Century” (Droemer, 2019) and “Ethical IT Innovation: A Value-based System Design Approach” (Taylor & Francis, 2015), as well as over 100 articles in leading academic journals such as “Communications of the ACM”, JIT, “IEEE Transactions” or “Science, Technology and Values”. In 2016 Sarah co-founded the “Sustainable Computing Lab”. In the same year she also started vice-chairing IEEE’s “P7000” project, leading the development of the first model process for ethical system design (or what is called “VBE – Value-based Engineering”) published in 2021 (also referenced as ISO/IEC/IEEE 24 748-7000).

Collective discussions and networking [16:30 – 17:00]

Location: WU Wien, TC.5.01 Auditorium, Welthandelsplatz 1, 1020 Wien

[You can also participate online via Zoom – contact “events [@] sustainablecomputing.eu” for the link]

Map: https://campus.wu.ac.at/?campus=1&q=TC.5.01