Professor Emeritus Simon Rogerson |
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Nationality | British |
Awards | IFIP Working Group 9.2 Namur Award (1999), ACM SIGCAS Making a Difference Award (2005) |
Website | dmu |
Academic background | |
Influences | Andrew Sereda, Christine Fidler, Terrell Ward Bynum, Donald Gotterbarn |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Computer Science, Information Systems, Applied Philosophy |
Main interests | Computer and Information Ethics, Information Systems, Professionalism, Information Integrity, Interdisciplinary Approaches |
Notable works | ETHICOMP conference series and academic community, SoDIS (Software Development Impact Statement), Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice |
Simon Rogerson is lifetime Professor Emeritus in Computer Ethics at the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility (CCSR), De Montfort University... He was the founder and is the current editor of the Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society. He has had two careers; first as a technical software developer and then in academia as reformer (according to Huff and Barnard). He was the founding Director of CCSR, launching it in 1995 at the first ETHICOMP conference which he conceived and co-directed until 2013. He became Europe's first Professor in Computer Ethics in 1998. His most important research focuses on providing rigorously grounded practical tools and guidance to computing practitioners. For his leadership and research achievements in the computer and information ethics interdisciplinary field he was awarded the fifth IFIP-WG9.2 Namur Award in 2000 and the SIGCAS Making a Difference Award in 2005.
As a teenager Rogerson wanted to work in the computer industry. On graduating from the University of Dundee he joined Thorn Lighting as a Fortran Programmer in 1972. He progressed to Senior Systems Analyst before transferring to Thorn EMI in 1976 as Technical Systems Manager and where he became Computer Services Manager in 1981. He left his full-time post in 1983 to pursue a career in academia. However, he maintained his link with industry through freelance consultancy and membership of several professional bodies.
Rogerson joined the Department of Information Systems at Leicester Polytechnic (later to become De Montfort University) in 1983. He was appointed under a government initiative to attract IT industrialists in to Higher Education. Initially, he focused on lecturing about Project Management, Systems Analysis and Management Support Systems. It was the latter which led him into research starting by co-authoring works with Dr Christine Fidler culminating in the book Strategic Management Support Systems in 1996.
Rogerson is an innovative educator. He created and was the founding course leader of a European-focused Business Information Systems Degree in 1990. He developed student guides for undergraduates, publishing Project Skills Handbook and co-authoring Successful Group Work. He introduced a series of course modules focussing on computer and information ethics. Rogerson and Tugrul Esendal developed and delivered an innovative course module addressing quality assurance and ethics in Software Engineering for which they received a Research Informed Teaching Award in 2007. He introduced the Information Society Doctoral Programme which continues to attract research students worldwide. In 2008, funded by HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council of England) Rogerson developed a virtual learning environment for doctoral students at De Montfort University where they could learn about and discuss research ethics. In 2009 he ran a Masters Summer School on the Social Impact of Computing at Gdansk University of Technology, Poland.