Doctoral dissertation (article) (G5)

Icarus, or the idea toward efficient, economical, and ethical acquirement of critical governmental information systems




List of AuthorsHeimo Olli

PublisherUniversity of Turku, Turku School of Economibs

PlaceTurku

Publication year2018

eISBN978-951-29-7508-2

URLhttp://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-29-7508-2

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttp://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-29-7508-2


Abstract

Critical governmental information systems are governmental information systems used by the administration to retain information and provide services that enable and safeguard the lives, well-being and security of citizens. These include public healthcare information systems, electronic voting systems, and border control information systems with biometric registers. As the ongoing digitalisation of our society advances, our dependence on information systems, their functionality and security continues to grow and the quality of work done with them increasingly intertwines with the daily lives of citizens. However, it has long been evident that IT projects in public administration are failing. Governmental information system projects often end up being astronomically expensive, unreasonably ineffective and ethically unsustainable. Therefore, much more attention should be paid to the procurement process for these systems. 

The reasons for these problems are manifold. Often, simple political motivations and appeal to, among other things, national pride, are a simple way for politicians to attain support. The creation of large-scale system entities favours large-scale private-sector actors specialised on governmental information systems. These companies’ impact on society’s decision-making and operations should not be underrated. However, the lack of understanding of technology and socio-technical problems and the structure of the digitalisation in society are likely to be the biggest problems in procuring these systems. It must be understood that organisational behaviour changes when its information systems are changed - including the ethical basis. 

To develop efficient, economical and ethical governmental information systems, a holistic approach is required. The ability to make decisions that take into account the needs and requirements of the citizens, employees, system vendors, and society at large in an ethically sustainable way is required. It should be noted that the decision makers, payers, suppliers, and the targets of the use are often different parties with their own desires, goals, and objectives. It is necessary to understand the functioning of the technology and its potential, but also to address the limitations of technology and potential threats created by it. The security required for these systems should not be diminished. 

This dissertation is framed in the light of Ovid’s telling of the myth of Daedalus and Icarus and through the framework for Aristotle's virtue ethics to examine the responsibility of governmental information system procurement, the role of responsible actors in society, and their required capabilities. The dissertation demonstrates that the current approach in many situations, the Icarian method, whereby persons committed their lives to the virtue of scientific knowledge are dismissed on discussion and decision-making in a way that is economically, effectively and ethically unsustainable. The antithesis for this, the Daedalus effect, represents a desirable state where decision-making is guided by caution, as well as by scientific and ethical inspiration. The dissertation proposes that critical governmental information systems should be guided by a prominent actor cultivated to the virtue of holistic scientific wisdom.


Last updated on 2021-24-06 at 08:46