Medical Information Systems Ethics

Conclusions

Generally speaking, the evolution of information technologies is giving rise to considerable repercussions on all levels: it is not only transforming society as a whole, but also organizations and institutions. It is also modifying all forms of social interaction, and even individuals. New challenges and conflicts have emerged.

According to technological determinism, NICT and Big Data are not neutral. They have an influence on their users; they condition them and modify their view of the world. An IS is mainly useful because of the relations that it creates: information is the symbol, the key and the condition of human interaction because it facilitate sex changes. Nevertheless, information can be a nuisance if it represents a vector of will to domination and becomes an obstacle to transparency. Technology and human in genuity always have a certain role in advance of legislation and human thinking. The gaps between NICT, legislation and ethics are growing ever larger. For this reason, information distributors must conform to certain ethical principles, values and virtues such as honesty, sincerity, veracity, reliability, equality and fairness, which requires equal distribution of informational resources for all citizens. In this context, data, information and knowledge necessitate an epistemological and ethical framework to produce decisive “practical wisdom” [RYA 07]. Thus, the challenge is to create conditions propitious for healthy interaction between moral, political ...