Overview
Technology is at the forefront of social transformation in the 21st century, reshaping how individuals, organisations, and governments interact. In this unit, you will explore the dynamic relationship between digital technologies and society, with a focus on ethics, governance, and accountability. As an emerging ICT professional, you will critically examine how digital systems can both support societal needs and introduce complex ethical, legal, and governance challenges. Topics include artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, privacy, intellectual property, censorship, workforce disruption, and information overload. You will apply ethical theories and professional codes of conduct to analyse real-world dilemmas and develop persuasive arguments in personal, organisational, and policy contexts. By the end of the unit, you will be equipped to engage with digital governance issues and contribute responsibly to the design and oversight of technology in society.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Co-requisite: COIT11239 Professional Communications Skills for ICT or ENEG11005 Fundamentals of Professional Engineering.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 2 - 2026
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Student feedback
Assessments require more explicit instructions and expectations.
Enhance specifications to ensure greater clarity, consistency, and structured guidance for students.
Feedback from Unit-Coordinator self-reflection
The co-requisite unit COMM11003 is no longer on offer.
Remove COMM11003 from the list of co-requisites