Failed information systems projects: definition in terms of neglect of professional ethics

In the last few years there has been increasing concern in the UK computer industry about a neglect of professionalism that has become manifest in various “IS disasters.” Examples of such IS disasters include the London Stock Exchange TAURUS project, the London Ambulance Service Computer-Aided Dispatch System, and the Wessex Regional Health Authority's Regional Information Systems Plan. By examining such past cases of failed IS projects it is possible to reflect on the neglect of professional ethics that contributes to such failures and hence future actions may be influenced accordingly. Case-based reasoning is a technique used in computer science to incorporate intelligent reasoning into a system. This article reports on the development of a case-based reasoner (CBR) computer system, which can offer ethical advice with reference to cases of failed IS projects. This was accomplished by ethically analysing cases of failed IS projects, including and similar to those cited above, to determine whether and to what extent a neglect of professional ethics contributed towards their failure. This case library formed the basis for development of the base-cased reasoner.