In the summer of 2020, a series of antitrust hearings in the US—involving some of the world’s leading tech companies—highlighted the double-edged nature of many emerging digital technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain and big data. While advanced digital technologies are often linked to exciting opportunities for organizational transformation and societal growth, we are beginning to realize that these technologies also come with potentially undesirable impacts. The hearings covered a range of contentious topics, including the regulation of free speech, data privacy and AI bias, emphasizing the fact that the ability to identify, analyze, and potentially mitigate ethical tensions in a digital context is a key skill in the digital economy we are currently building. Indeed, as humans weave modern digital technologies so tightly into the fabric of everyday life, enhancing their capabilities with cutting edge technologies, the need for scrutiny and safeguards becomes paramount if progress in not only to be driven by what is technologically possible, but by what is societally desirable and sustainable.

One way for organizations to minimize the ethical risks associated with new digital technologies is to put in place policies that encourage a responsible approach to their development, use and modification. While such policies should be considered as part of an organization’s larger corporate responsibility, this seminar will make a case that the history and nature of digital technologies warrant an explicit and—to some degree—separate consideration of digital ethics in business and society.

Topics we will discuss during this seminar include:
> Historical and conceptual roots of digital ethics
> Digital issues in the context of corporate responsibility
> Foundational frameworks of corporate digital responsibility
> Design and implementation of corporate digital responsibility

Overall, the seminar is designed to allow you to understand key concepts that currently shape discussions of digital ethics while building up the skills needed to apply these concepts to specific contexts, cases, and challenges you will face.

Completing this course will support you in developing the following skills:
> Explain sources of ethical issues in a digital context
> Anticipate and analyze ethical issues in a digital context
> Understand foundational frameworks of corporate digital responsibility
> Apply foundational frameworks to industry cases