Abstract:
In 2007 a group of academics from different countries established a network
known as the Africa Network on Information Ethics (ANIE). Aimed at
addressing the under-representation of academics from Africa on information
ethics web sites and at international conferences, ANIE committed itself to
raising awareness of and stimulating research on information ethics issues by
means of conferences and workshops across the African continent. Informing
this commitment was the notion that activities on information ethics matters
should focus on "changes in the relationship between people and the world due
to information communications technology" (Capurro 2008:1163). These
networking activities contributed to the creation of the Africa Centre of
Excellence for Information Ethics (ACEIE) in May 2012. The dual brief of the
ACEIE was to conduct research on information ethics issues in Africa, and to
develop an information ethics curriculum for Africa that could be piloted at
selected higher education institutions on the continent. This article starts with a
description of the background to and rationale for the development of such an
information ethics curriculum. Following the description is a summary of
Curriculum Framework components and an explanation of the different ways in
which institutions could use the Framework in the design and implementation of
their own curriculum offerings. The article concludes with an indication of the
contribution that the development and implementation of the Information Ethics Framework and associated curriculum offerings could make to research in the
field of Information Ethics and the development of Africa as a globally
competitive information and knowledge society.