The College of Science and Engineering (CSE) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) was an organizer of the 2nd International Workshop on Ethics in Software Engineering Research and Practice (SEthics 2021), held virtually on June 4. 

Held alongside the 43rd International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE 2021), the workshop series serves as a forum to explore the intersection of ethics, human values, and software engineering activities. HBKU’s Dr. Raian Ali, professor in Information and Computing Technology (ICT), CSE, a chair on the SEthics organizing committee, contributed to ensuring diversity of content that shed light on current practices and research results while identifying emerging trends and research directions in software engineering. 

Following an opening keynote on the “Ethics of AI and Emerging Digital Technologies”, workshop sessions covered research paper presentations, working groups, and panel discussions between academics and practitioners from the US, Germany, Sweden, Qatar, and the UK. Their presentations covered a wide spectrum, such as how ethical lapses create complicated and problematic software; filling the gaps in ethical research and practice toward ethical data-driven software; and trustworthy artificial intelligence. 

CSE’s Dr. Dena Al-Thani, assistant professor in ICT, presented her user-centered approach regarding design, disability, and ethics, and the major projects she leads in Qatar in this area during a panel titled Software for Behavioral Mining and Change: The Ethical Dilemma, which was chaired by Dr. Ali.  

The panel included UK-based experts Prof. Bernd Stahl of the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility at De Montfort University and Prof. Gopal Ramchurn from the University of Southampton. The panel and the workshop discussed the work of the CSE Technology and Behavioral Research Group (i-Solouk) as well as ethical considerations when technology can impact people behavior and decisions. 

Speaking after the workshop, Dr. Mounir Hamdi, Founding Dean, CSE, said: “As the ethical landscape around the use of emerging software applications such as the Internet of Things and AI becomes more complex, it is even more fundamental to answer the ethical concerns and questions raised about the role of human values in software engineering practice and research. It is an area where our high-impact research at CSE allows us to have an influence through our informed contributions. In this specialized area, this workshop during ICSE 2021 is one of the prime venues for the high-quality research and conclusions drawn to inform a range of stakeholders, and CSE’s participation was exceptionally productive.”

To learn more about the College of Science and Engineering, its activities, and events, visit cse.hbku.edu.qa