ITGS Triangle

ITGS Triangle (strand 1)

By: Giuliano Duce

Surveillance

The digital divide and equality of access

Realiability and integrity

Authenticity

Surveillance is the use of IT to monitor the actions of people. For example, monitoring may be used to

track, record and assess employees’ performance. It can be used to support claims for promotion or to

ensure that employees follow the organization’s internet policy appropriately.

The growth of the use of IT systems has led to disparities in the use of, and access to, information technologies.

Disparities exist not only internationally between countries, but also within countries between different

socio-economic groups as well as within what may appear to be relatively homogenous groups. This may

lead to groups or individuals without access to IT being disadvantaged. For example, while telelearning may

bring previously unavailable opportunities to everyone’s doorstep, factors such as the cost and availability

of hardware, software or access to the internet may create a “digital divide”.

Authenticity means establishing a user’s identity beyond reasonable doubt. Authenticating the user is

crucial in many scenarios, particularly in business and legal matters. A simple example of authentication is

a user login to a network. A more advanced example would be the use of encrypted digital signatures in a

business transaction or the use of watermarking on digital photographs.

Reliability refers to the operation of hardware, the design of software, the accuracy of data or the

correspondence of data with the real world. Data may be unreliable if it has been entered incorrectly or if it

becomes outdated. The reliability of machines, software and data determines our confidence in their value.

Integrity refers to safeguarding the accuracy and completeness of stored data. Data lacks integrity when it

has been changed accidentally or tampered with. Examples of data losing integrity are where information is

duplicated in a relational database and only one copy is updated or where data entries have been maliciously

altered.

People and machines

Social and Ethical

Standards and protocols

The use of IT systems brings significant advantages, for instance in ease of use, being available 24/7, or

through its use rather than exposing humans to a potentially hazardous environment. However, this can

raise concerns about the rate at which technology is being introduced and issues that may arise from

insufficient testing in critical situations such as air traffic control. The ultimate fear of many people is that

future systems will be programmed to make decisions that would be better taken by humans, such as the

decision to deploy nuclear weapons.

There are also social impacts such as internet addiction, where people feel that they can never get away

from IT and are trapped on a “digital treadmill”.

Standards and protocols are technical rules and conventions that enable compatibility and therefore

facilitate communication or interoperability between different IT systems and their components. They

might govern the design and use of hardware, software and information. For example, the communication

protocols used on the internet, the ASCII representations for characters, or the design of the printer port on

a personal computer are all governed by standards.

Policies

Intellectual Property

Policies are enforceable measures intended to promote appropriate and discourage inappropriate use

relating to information technologies. They can be developed by governments, businesses, private groups

or individuals. They normally consist of rules governing access to, or use of, information, hardware, software

and networks. For example, a school policy on the use of IT would consist of each user signing an acceptableuse

policy. It would also address unlawful access to the network through, for example, identity theft or using

hacking software, and how these transgressions would be treated. Many websites also require users to

agree to specific policies before allowing access to their services.

Policies also affect the exchange of information, for example, by making it subject to copyright laws and

raising people’s awareness of plagiarism. In general, policies can promote or restrict access, guide behaviour,

require the fulfillment of certain conditions prior to or during use, or need to be developed to address

The widespread use of information technology (IT) raises questions about the social and ethical considerations that shape the world today. IB students must become familiar with all the social impacts and ethical considerations described in this section. IB teachers should introduce them as appropriate, using the integrated approach illustrated in the ITGS triangle. In this way, students can discuss social impacts and ethical considerations that are raised when IT systems are used in a range of scenarios. The use of IT is likely to bring both advantages and disadvantages, and students should be able to discuss the effects of IT in a critical way as well as evaluating possible solutions. It is important that examples are drawn from the local, national and global level from recently published articles. Some examples of scenarios for consideration are listed later in this section

Globalization and cultural diversity

Security

Globalization means the diminishing importance of geographical, political, economic and cultural

boundaries. IT has played a major role in reducing these boundaries. For example, any dramatic event

anywhere in the world can be broadcast almost instantly by television or on the internet. However, the new

“global village” may lead to the extinction of minority languages.

Security refers to the protection of hardware, software, machines and networks from unauthorized access.

Security measures include restricted access to machines and networks for certain employees or to prevent

access by hackers. The degree of security of information systems largely determines society’s confidence in

the information contained in the systems.

Digital citizenship

Digital citizenship can be defined as appropriate behavior that represents the responsible, ethical

and legal approach that individuals take in any situation with respect to the use of IT. Digital citizenship

permeates, in one way or another, all of the preceding social and ethical considerations.

Privacy and anonymity

Privacy is the ability of individuals and groups to determine for themselves when, how and to what extent

information about themselves is shared with others. At its extreme, privacy becomes anonymity when, for

instance, a person uses it to conceal his or her true identity in order to cyber-bully someone else. Conversely,

excessive privacy could also conceal the perpetrators of criminal, terrorist or computer hacking acts from

law enforcement agencies.