SOE, ICT Code of Conduct, Piracy, Digital Etiquette, Ethics

Question 1

What is SOE? (eg what does it stand for and what is it?)

Answer 1

System Operating Environment, a standard operating environment (or commonly referred to as an SOE) is a standard setup of a computer’s operating system and its related software programs and hardware devices.

Question 2

Advantages of SOE.

Answer 2

1. It’s easy to upgrade and maintain software and hardware on multiple computers as they’re identical
2. Costs are significantly cut as bulk software licensing and hardware purchases can be made
3. Time to install and maintain the systems is shortened through processes such as Imaging
4. Essential upgrades and fixes can be tested on a small number of systems before rolling out to the network, hence cutting downtime

Question 3

Disadvantages of SOE.

Answer 3

1. Users may have to adjust to an operating system or software that they don’t often use
2. A network administrator may need to be hired
3. Specialist software is sometimes unavailable

Question 4

What is a code of conduct?

Answer 4

1. A code of conduct is simply a set of rules that outlines the responsibilities and expectations of an individual, party or organization
2. Companies use a code of conduct to display what is expected from each employee

Question 5

Code of conduct in the context of ICT?

Answer 5

1. All companies, big and small, often rely on a code of conduct to ensure the behaviour and actions of each employee is up to a certain standard
2. In IT, this relates to many aspects of the use of technology (e.g. the Internet and computers)
3. Companies will outline their expectations in terms of using computers and the Internet in a code of conduct.
4. It ensures computing resources are used for work purposes
5. It provides guidelines to protect data, eg company secret files not going online and available for all

Question 6

What is ethics?

Answer 6

Ethics could be described as guiding moral principles with an aim to doing right or at least not doing wrong.
Generally laws follow ethical principles but it is important to understand that law and ethics are separate concepts.
The legal option may not always be ethical and vice versa.
Laws are defined by legislation and are (mostly) indisputable but ethics are open to interpretation and may vary amongst different people and different cultures

Question 7

What is piracy?

Answer 7

We could define piracy as being the unlawful use of intellectual property such as using a software application that you do not have a license for. A code of conduct could go some way towards prevention of piracy.
The syllabus specifically refers to piracy in the development and use of ICT systems. For the development of systems a key area is making sure all development software is correctly licensed.
For example, you should not be using non-commercial licenses if you are building commercial software.
A similar situation applies to the use of ICT systems, an organisation should ensure that they are compliant with the licensing requirements of any software or systems they use. For example, many systems charge on a per user basis so an organisation should ensure that they have an adequate number of user licenses.

Question 8

What is digital etiquette?

Answer 8

Etiquette can be defined as “the customary code of polite behaviour in society or among members of a particular profession or group”.
For example, what is acceptable amongst members of the millennial generation may differ greatly from what is acceptable amongst members of the baby boomer generation.
It’s about making a distinction between formal communications and informal communications and adjusting digital communication style appropriately.