Draft Scientific Paper

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

“The state of software engineering ethics in Nigeria’s fast improving information and communications technology, implications and way forward”.

WRITTEN BY AHMED SHAFII

BU/11a/IT/0019

INTERACTION DESIGN

ABSTRACT

Software engineering (SE) is the profession concerned with specifying, designing, developing and maintaining software applications by applying technologies and practices from computer science, project management, and other fields.

SE applications are used in a wide range of activities, from industry to entertainment. Software applications improve user productivity and quality of life. Application software examples: office suites, video games, and the World Wide Web. System software examples: embedded systems and operating systems.

SE technologies and practices improve the productivity of developers and the quality of the applications they create. Software engineering examples: databases, languages, libraries, patterns, and tools. Computer science examples: algorithms and data structures. Project management examples: processes.

This paper investigates the state of software engineering ethics in the face of Nigeria’s upwelling Information and Communications Technology and intention to produce and use locally designed and implemented software. This paper calls attention to the detachment, dispassion and mass negligence attendant to this issue. It further highlights and calls for adherence to sound ethics at all levels of software production in the Nigerian society at large. The paper uses a case study and scenario to illustrate how to start doing so.

INTRODUCTION

Computers have an important role in our day-to-day life. Software engineers contribute directly in developing and maintaining all these machines, indispensable to our life. Because their role is so important in developing software systems, software engineers have chance to do good, cause harm, or to allow others to do bad things. To ensure that they work for...