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There are many legal and ethical issues related to information technology and organisations that use information technology on a day to day basis. These organisations should be aware that it can lead to major legal and ethical issues.

There are four critical concepts that I am going to base this blog around within legal and ethical issues related to Information Technology. These four concepts are: responsibility, accountability, liability and due process.

Firstly I am going to address responsibility. Simply, an organisation or individual must take responsibility for potential costs, duties and obligations whilst working with I.T.  

In an organisation, even if an individual makes a mistake for instance it could lead to disastrous consequences. For example, if an employee breaches a term in his/her contract related to information technology, such as failing to take proper protection over crucial information. Responsibility for their own actions should be taken seriously by both individual and organisations, otherwise disastrous consequences can occur.

Liability is another major concept within this field. This is when, for example when an individual or organisations fail to keep lawful and compatible disclosure of personal data. This is breaking the data protection act and therefore leads to major legal issues. These issues can become known by the potential buying public and could seriously damage integrity and profit.

Accountability is assessed by systems and social institution mechanisms. ISACA is the globally accepted standard of achievement among information systems audit, control and security professionals. Managers of systems are responsible and can be held accountable and liable for the damage done by systems according to the Fair Information Practices (FIP 1973) principles. This is suggesting that individuals or organisations should take accountability for their responsibilities, therefore the two are linked.

Finally due process is a system that makes sure that there are distinctive laws so business can meet expectations at all time and it also includes a system for appeal. This should eradicate potential law breaking and if an authority believes that an organisation is running illegally, there is an option to appeal, making it fair for both parties involved.

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Here, I would like to summarise my experience of WCE2010 against its objectives. 

I presented my work with an emphasis on scientific and educational components. This work was received well by the audience. This was obvious from the questions raised in the end of my presentation – they all referred to different components of my work – and from the discussion of my presentation during breaks between the sessions.

 At present, co-operation research programmes supported by the national and international organisations offer wide opportunities for collaboration on national and international levels and for expansion of research. Being involved in WCE2010 as session chair and invited speaker, I was able to re-establish contacts with many academics, researchers and engineers. I participated in technical meetings with academic and industrial partners. In future, this experience will enable me to effectively collaborate with other research groups. 

Based on my experience at the WCE2010, I would endeavour to maintain the competitive advantage of my Faculty and University by analyzing the current industrial demand and by keeping up to date as to what courses related to my area of expertise other universities currently offer and introduce as new.

 

Research issues are vitally important for education. Module programmes are supposed to use research outcomes including new knowledge together with the innovative learning support system which I developed during my research-informed teaching project. My participation in the WCE2010 helped me to incorporate my research outcomes in the teaching materials.

 I will submit the results and outputs (taking into account my WCE2010 experience) to the leading scientific and educational journals. To finish, I would like to say that I was very excited about being part of the WCE2010 and look forward to my participation in future world congresses on engineering. 

Today, I acted as session chair at the International Conference on Mechanical Engineering that is a part of WCE2010.

 

My main duties included the following during the conference session period:

 

1. I arranged the session participants to upload their presentation files onto the notebook/PC before the start of the session.

 

2. I introduced the invited speakers, the participants and their paper titles.

 

3. I delivered the certificate of invited speech to the invited speaker and certificates of participation – to the participants after their presentations.

 

4. I completed the scored sheets. I was invited to do the scoring for the best paper award and the best student paper award.

 

My role was to ensure the smooth running of the conference session. I was awarded the certificate of participation as session chair.

 Nine speakers presented their work during my session (which lasted about 2.5 hours). The presentations were focused on different topics related to fundamental and applied problems of mechanical engineering – from computational fluid dynamics (this topic is close to my area of expertise) to design of machine and mechanisms (I am far from this topic). 

This was my first experience as session chair. I believe I did well. All tasks mentioned above were performed successfully. The session ran smoothly. All participants seemed to be satisfied with my performance as session chair and my introduction of the participants and invited speakers. It was easier than I expected. This experience was useful for my future career as well my potential collaboration with other participants. My role also helped me to establish a close relationship with the local organising committee at the Imperial College and the international advisory board.

Today, I presented my work titled “Simulation of aero-optic effects in wall-bounded and free-shear flows”. My presentation had two main aspects. First, my report had a scientific aspect. I presented my latest results which focused on large-eddy simulation of aero-optic effects in turbulent flows appearing in industry, technology and environment. The role of turbulence in these applications is twofold. Turbulence may pose a potential hazard for human activities (for example, slag accumulation) or can be successfully used in engineering applications (to enhance transport properties of the medium). Second, I presented a part of my research-informed project supported by the Faculty of Engineering. My project intends to develop the inquiry-based computer virtual learning environment (in other words - virtual laboratory) to augment engineering modules using thermofluids principles, and to increase students’ understanding and skills in CAD/CAE/CAM (Computer-Aided Design/Engineering/Manufacturing) technology and mathematical packages used in mechanical, automotive and aerospace engineering. I included some data from my research activities based on post-processing of the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) results. The results of my work play an important role in design and optimisation of different measurement systems (e.g. those based on coherent adaptive optic technique), where the optical beam is used as a monitoring tool. In my opinion, my presentation had a good balance between the level of complexity and level of accuracy. My areas of expertise sit at a peak of thermofluids science and are quite difficult for understanding. My outlook on this situation is supported by the audience response and their questions. Results presented at the conference, were included in the virtual thermofluids laboratory and form an interactive collection of examples and exercises. Students are able to both learn from and contribute to the growing collection of executable software content as well as applications of and interfaces to that software. To finish, I think my presentation on WCE2010 went well, and I plan to extend my work in this direction.

This is my first attempt to create a blog. In my blog, I will consider and discuss my participation in the World Congress on Engineering 2010 (WCE2010) and the International Conference on Mechanical Engineering 2010 (ICME2010). This Congress will take place in London from 30 June to 2 July 2010. Conference venue is Imperial College, one of the famous scientific institutions in the country and in the world.

 

My role in WCE2010 is twofold. First, I will present my paper which focuses on my scientific and education work. The title of my paper is “Aero-optic effects in turbulent wall-bounded and free-shear flows”. Second, I will act as a session chair.

 My entries to the blog will consist of 4 parts. In the first part (the current part) I will say a few words about objectives of my participation in the WCE2010. In the second part, I will talk in more detail about my paper presentation. The third part will focus on my role in the WCE2010 as a session chair. In the final part, I will make conclusions and summarize my experience from this conference. The objectives of my participation in WCE2010 are the following: 1. To report and present the latest results in the area of simulation of aero-optic effects in turbulent flows (with emphasis on statistical simulation of the turbulence which is currently a very important problem in engineering applications). 2. To establish further collaborative links with mechanical engineers, researchers and academics working in the field of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and its application to design and optimisation of energy systems, with the possibility of a future FP7 joint proposal. 3. To contribute to the development of research strategies, innovative research proposals and fundraising for academic research projects based on the latest challenges in the field of CFD, and to expand research activities carried out by the Faculty of Engineering at the Kingston University London. 

So, I hope my blog will be useful and interesting for my colleagues and others.