Ethical analysis of science, technology and innovation policies in four East African countries
Abstract
Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) policy is an essential part of the larger public policy programming in order to improve livelihoods and quality of life. Extant literatures indicate that policy-making is driven largely by economic considerations. Policy studies came into being largely as a response to a need to guide development of nations and competition among them. However, there has been a resurging interest in ethics of policies in the last few years as a response to the empiricist approach that followed the Second World War. Partly, this is due to concerns about policy makers‟ failure to address the moral ambiguity in technology development and adoption, and possible dire consequences that could arise from this failure. The main objective of the study was to analyze the ethical frameworks underlying the ST&I policies of Kenya and three selected eastern African countries namely Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda using content analysis. The study found that the policies are predominantly utilitarian in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. In Tanzania it was found to be duty based. On whether it is necessary analyze ethics in ST&I policy, it was found that there are compelling reasons to undertake this task as this would give technology a more useful measure for determining whether it is responding to man‟s need for authentic development.
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
An examination into the ethical acceptability of genetically modified foods in Kenya principled on Aristotelian Ethics
Gichuru, Virginia GathoniEthics is a branch of Philosophy which studies free human acts from the point of view of their moral value (goodness or badness) in relation with the last end of man( Debeljuh,2006). Ethics ... -
Ethical decision-making in academic administration : a qualitative study of college deans’ ethical frameworks
Catacutan, Maria Rosario G.; de Guzman, Allan B. (Springer International Publishing AG, 2015-07-22)Ethical decision-making in school administration has received considerable attention in educational leadership literature. However, most research has focused on principals working in secondary school settings while studies ... -
Teaching business ethics in Africa : what ethical orientation? the case of East and Central Africa
Gichure, Christine Prof.This paper starts off from what seems to be a difficulty of ethics in African Business today. For several years now Transparency International has placed some African countries high on its list of most corrupt countries ...