Governance and Ethics

Overview

The proliferation and ubiquity of technology has presented great advantages and great challenges. The best practices of companies and organizations now include governance departments and initiatives to oversee ethics in their professional environments. Technology is also governed by legal parameters and legislation is emerging in an attempt to rein in a free and unregulated Internet/World Wide Web.

The institutional review board (IRB) concept resulted from a series of events that violated human rights in research. IRBs are also known as independent ethics committees, ethical review boards, and research ethics boards. These boards set forth standards for biomedical and behavioral research involving humans. The purpose is to protect the human rights of participants in a research study.

Review protocols related to abusive studies such as the Nazi experimentations and Tuskegee Syphilis Study. The National Research Act of 1974 produced the Belmont Report, which sets forth criteria for primary ethical principles in human subjects review such as respect, beneficence, and justice. An IRB looks for balanced subject risk and benefits, and outlines informed consent from participants.

Link to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) in the Resources for information on the IRB process at Additional information on IRBs, the project management office (PMO), and IT codes of conduct can be found in this unit's studies, on the Internet, or in Library journal resources.

Assignment Instructions

Using research from the textbook, your readings, the or the Internet, write a 1–2 page paper describing governance principles, standards, and practices in the IT environment. Using the media presentation as a case study:

Describe the role of an organization's IRB.

Describe the role of an organization's technology PMO.

List and describe the components of an IT code of conduct.

Use references to legislation and governing edicts as applicable.