IT professionals have many specializations: this is a call for you to share what you know about the requirements in your area. Please comment on this blog if you know a good website or reference that you feel all IT professionals should know and follow.
CIPS (Canadian Information Processing Society) says that all IT professionals have a public obligation.
We are the practitioners that should protect the public from the black box of computer mystery since the automation is transparent to us, but not to them. Some of this obligation has become quite specific as the public has begun to learn what surprises they might see from IT. Laws have been passed about privacy. Certifications have been created about security. I am sure there are guidelines somewhere about how to “remove identity” from big data analysis before it is shared. In Germany the government is even directing car manufacturers on the rules for their AI that steers the cars.
Where are the specific checklists and criteria in Canada? If requirements are not specific, how can we drive these down to specific items to implement and test? Are you aware of somewhere this has been done? As IT professionals, we need to keep up-to-date on all these requirements and one of the best ways is to share our understanding and experience.
Some of you may have tried to implement best practices about IT privacy and other concerns of public protection and found roadblocks. The extra cost does not always fit in the business case for any of the projects that have been prioritized. Please share any strategies you may have for spotlighting these concerns (presumably if you can point somewhere that says “it must be so”, then you can get support).
I am very curious to see your replies and very hopeful there will be some good surprises. Be aware that I would love this to become an ongoing discussion about what we can do to meet our obligations.