Do ethics have a place in Technological adoption ?

A few days back, I heard Jonathan Murray, Worldwide Technology Officer, Microsoft Corporation, who gave a lecture titled " Tech. society and the new society transformation", at Dubai School of Government ( www.dsg.ae). He spoke at length about the way the world is shaping up and how technological changes are transforming human effort.

Personally, i was reminded of my days at Engineering school, and Industrial Engineering lectures in particular, where we lived and breathed work measurement and efficiency.

The lecture focused largely on how our society has transformed from a labour intensive one to a service one in the last 200 years. Post industrial revolution society has struggled with the questions posed by replacement of human effort by machines. We continue to debate these issue even today, with recession, job lay-offs and the slowing down of economies world-wide.

Some of the major trends in technology transformation around us include increase in storage capacity, doubling of processing speeds as well as reduction in power usage of processors. These are having a big impact on the way the service industry is shaping up.


The moral and ethical components of this transformation which will lead to wider distributed storage platforms including 'cloud platforms' include issues of liability and responsibility. for example, if a person meets with an accident caused by a faulty processor in the Car, is it the fault of the driver or the chip ?

The real challenge for policy makers will be to take cultural and social context and decide where do you want to intersect . Eg. Reasons why u can’t access flickr in a society as free as Dubai ?

What are the moral implications??? If policy makers create the right environment, then the implications can bring more people into the chain of greater wealth creation. These would create social systems which will be healthy, and create high value for all the people involved.

Being 'plugged in'

Working as a media professional can have its own unique challenges and opportunities. One of the most exciting aspects of being a PR professional to me personally is being in touch with the latest developments taking place, socially, politically and financially.

I can recount several incidents in the recent past when I have had access to 'priviliged' information simply because of the circles that i am connected to. Journalists, writers, business leaders are some people we interact with on a daily basis. Our daily feed consists of consuming over 5 newspapers on a regular basis, writing articles, press releases, opinion pieces and much more arguing, persuasing, selling ideas, shaping opinion.

As an employee of a semi-government PR agency, i do feel happy that we are so close to the 'centres of power'. proximity to the government in the Middle East also means access to invaluable information, contacts which can give one a deep insight into the way the city or generally the country is developing.

How does one make use of this access ? What are the responsibilities that come with having so much information at one's disposal ? How does one NOT mis-use it ?

Information is power in today's society. One can always use this information to gain an edge over others, professionally or personally. If done within the bounds of ethics and a moral framework, it is ok. But if done unscrupulously and with a malicious intent, this can be the worst abuse of information and access.

These are some issues that one needs to think through.

Max clifford interview - The Observor

This much I know

Max Clifford, publicist, 59, LondonGeraldine Bedell
The Observer, Sunday 9 February 2003 Article historyI cost at least
£10,000 a month. Many of my clients are paying a lot more.



I started working for myself 32 years ago, when I was 27. I'd been at
EMI before that, where I'd helped to launch the Beatles. People
thought, 'He must be good: look at the people he's worked with.' My
part in their success was totally nonexistent, but their part in my
success was huge.

Most of what I do is not getting things in the media, it's keeping
things out. The bigger the star, company or organisation, the less
important promotion becomes, and the more important protection.

Is it legitimate to embroider? Yes, all the time. Freddie Starr ate my
hamster, David Copperfield and Claudia Schiffer... I've always had a
very creative imagination and that's an important part of what I do.

I admire very few stars. I would say that Paul Newman and Muhammad Ali
have come to terms with their celebrity and see it for what it is.
But, on the whole, I basically feel quite sorry for them.

What stories am I proud of? I love to believe, rightly or wrongly,
that I played a little part in bringing down the Conservative
government.

My daughter Louise has had juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. She was in
hospital on and off for 15 years. She's had hips replaced, knees
replaced, a rod put down her spine, a rib taken out, sleeping with
traction on her legs. Over that time I watched the National Health
Service, one of our proudest achievements, being destroyed. It hasn't
been put right yet, but it takes a long time to revive something
that's virtually dead.

I've heard all kinds of bad things I'm meant to have done, but as long
as the people I love - my wife, my daughter - know the truth, I'm
happy. I don't want to look at myself in the mirror and feel ashamed.

When I took on Mandy Allwood, I believed the only chance she and the
babies had was to stay out of the media spotlight. The spotlight was
going to be there whether I was involved or not. So the medical fees
were picked up by News International and they were given a place out
of the way, poachers being the best gamekeepers and all that. But as I
found out more and more about her partner Paul Hudson... knowing what
I know now, I wouldn't have got involved.

I don't know if something inherent in celebrity makes people
self-destruct, but it's something you often find.

I've never approached a client. I won't pitch for business. It comes to me.

Where I am incredibly creative is with the image of stars. They may be
seen to have women falling at their feet when I know they're gay.

Some of my best friends are madams. With major stars, if there's a
party, I control the party - nothing comes out.

I find it fascinating that we're so obsessed with sex. We're very
puritanical. But that's wonderful for me. Oddly, even the French are
interested in our scandals, though they're not interested in their
own.

The tabloids are a much nastier world than they were. Everyone's
jockeying for everyone else's job and they've got no power because
there are no unions any more, so they're more and more insecure - if
they don't do the story, someone else will.

I like it that I can get justice for people. Gary Glitter wasn't a
satisfactory legal verdict, but he can't go anywhere in the world now
without people being aware of him. That's a result as far as I'm
concerned.

I'm not happy about the grief that Mrs Mellor would have gone through,
but with no disrespect, I think that's down to David rather than Max
Clifford. The affair was out before I got involved.

Some of the nicest, kindest people I've ever known are always at it
with other people.

Money is important to me. Flying isn't that straightforward for us, so
we fly first class, and I drive a Bentley. Louise would have to be
lifted in and out of a car that was lower. But I give a lot of money
away.

If you asked my wife Liz who I look after, she'd have trouble telling
you. She's not very interested at all. She finds the entertainment
world full of very empty shallow people, which is not far wrong.

I love the mischief of it all. There's a little old lady I see every
week called Marjorie. I have a cup of tea with her before I play
tennis and I always give her a few juicy stories. And if there isn't
anything, I make it up.