INTRODUCTION
 An ICT policy is in the final stages of being
adopted;
 Provisions in the policy and related strategies which
are meant to facilitate policy implementation address
most ethical concerns arising from exploitation of
ICTS; and
 Absence of access to information legislation is a major
“ethical” obstacle to efficient exploitation of ICTs
AIM
To review some provisions in the National ICT
Policy in order to assess whether the policy takes into
consideration ethical challenges that arise from
use of ICTs.
ETHICAL AND SOCIAL CHALLENGES
RELATED TO ICT USE
 recognition for personal and corporate ethics
associated with ICT;
 striking a balance between ethical, economic and
technological as well as political considerations;
 intellectual property rights issue (trademarks, patents,
copyright and trade secrets);
Ethical and social challenges (Cont’d)
 non violation of privacy and associated rights amidst
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electronic information data mining
the opportunity to commit crime with ICT (computer
crime);
legal issues and limitations;
consequence of using ICT;
professional responsibilities;
freedom of expression;
freedom of speech.
ETHICAL RELATED PROVISIONS IN THE
NATIONAL ICT POLICY
Responsive ICT legal and regulatory
Environment
Strategies foreseen under this provision include:
 Ensuring that the development, deployment and
exploitation of ICTs within the economy and society
and related legal provisions balances as well as
protects community and individual interests,
including privacy and data protection issues.
Responsive ICT legal and regulatory
Environment (Cont’d)
 addressing ethical issues in the use of ICT to protect
the rights of children and the under-privileged.
 protecting the Malawian public from undesirable
impacts of ICTs including the spread of pornographic
materials, theft of postal materials, cyber-crimes and
digital frauds.
Universal access and universal service
Initiatives foreseen under this provision include
 ensuring that there is access to ICT services by all
people regardless of location, gender, age, literacy
levels or educational levels, language or dialect,
physical or mental ability; and
 ensuring that special efforts are made to extend
services and access to all sections of the society
including rural, underserved and disadvantaged
communities in order to reach out to, and benefit, the
majority of the Malawian population.
HOW DOES THE NATIONAL ICT POLICY
MEASURE UP TO ETHICAL CONCERNS?
Responsive ICT legal and regulatory
environment
If strategies under this provision are implemented
as planned then most of the ethical issues listed
earlier (slides 3 and 4 above) will be addressed.
Universal access and universal service
Access has very important implications on ethical issues
especially in relation to access to information because
access to information is a constitutional right so
government has both a moral and constitutional
obligation to ensure that the structures and services
needed for the exercise of the right are in place.
The presence of the policy
That there is a policy is itself an ethical issue:
 Demonstrates acknowledgement that Government has
a moral obligation to create an environment conducive
to the exploitation of ICTs
 Fulfills a public expectation that for the existence of
such a policy
Current negatives
 Absence of access to information legislation;
 Inefficient Internet services;
 High cost of Internet services;
 High cost of hardware; and
 Presence of pieces of legislation that make it difficult
to access information.
CURRENT ICT INITIATIVES
 Re-designation of the Department of Information
Systems and Technology Management Services into an
e-Government Directorate;
 E-Legislation project: aimed at setting up an ICT legal
framework that will
facilitate competition,
development and participation related to ICTs. It is
also meant to address ethical issues in the use of ICTs.
CONCLUSION
 The policy, once implemented, will address most of
the ethical concerns relating to the exploitation of
ICTs
 There are some important issues that need to be
resolved parallel to the adoption of the policy.