Human Choice and Computers: Issues of Choice and Quality of Life in the Information Society

The developments of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are not always continuous but may be influenced and shaped by unforeseen events and are therefore difficult to predict and control. This applies especially to the impacts of September 11 (2001) events on how ICT is used in economic and public applications. But even under pressures of terrorist actions, it is essential that Human Choice dominate how Information and Communication Technologies are shaped, applied and used.
Human Choice and Computers: Issues of Choice and Quality of Life in the Information Society presents different views about how terrorist actions are influencing political and social discussions and decisions, and it covers questions related to legitimacy and power in the Information Society. Ethical principles are important guidelines for responsible behavior of IT professionals. But even under strong external pressure, long ranging aspects such as education and the roles of developing countries in the Information Society are important to discuss, especially to enable all to actively participate in information processes.
The topics covered in this book include:

-Quality of Life and Quality of Working Life;
-Ethics and Social Accountability in the Information Society;
-Responsibility of IT Professionals;
-Legitimacy, Legality and Power in the Information Society;
-Roles of Developing Countries in the Information Society;
-Education and Social Impact;
-History of Computing;
-New Horizons of the Information Society;
-UNESCO Panels: "Information for All" and "Multilingualism and Universal Access to Cyberspace".

This volume contains the edited proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Human Choice and Computers (HCC-6), which was sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) and held in conjunction with the 17th IFIP World Computer Congress in Montréal, Québec, Canada in August 2002. As with the five preceding conferences, starting with HCC-1 in 1974, IFIP's Technical Committee 9 has continued to set the agenda for human choices and human actions vis-à-vis computers.