The Internationalization of Research and Teaching in Information Ethics: A post-2018 Review

The International Center for Information Ethics (ICIE), founded in 1999 by Uruguayan philosopher Rafael Capurro, offers a global-wide platform for collaboration in teaching, publishing and practicing information ethics. For over two decades, ICIE has led and supported initiatives, publications and conferences on topics critical to information cultures in the digital age, dealing with everything from algorithmic bias and robot ethics to traditional information science. Through the formation of international and intercultural partnerships, ICIE has established its well-earned reputation as the leading voice of Information Ethics around the world. The greatest legacy of ICIE rests in its early support of, and lasting partnership with, the African Network for Information Ethics (ANIE) and the African Centre of Excellence for Information Ethics (ACEIE). The following article is a reflection on the role and influence of ANIE since 2007 and the ACEIE since 2012, via the support of ICIE towards internationalising Information Ethics in Africa. It will be shown that the grounded approach of ACEIE towards the development of information cultures across Africa provided ICIE with the needed structure and framework to anchor its wider academic focus in an authentic understanding of and respect for the life-worlds and value systems of not only Africans but of people all over the world.


Resumen
El Centro Internacional para la Ética de la Información (ICIE), fundado en 1999 por el filósofo uruguayo Rafael Capurro, ofrece una plataforma global para la colaboración en enseñanza, producción de documentos y práctica de la ética de la información. Por más de dos décadas, ICIE ha liderado y sostenido iniciativas, publicaciones and eventos académicos sobre tópicos críticos de las culturas de la información en la era digital, tratando todo lo relacionado con desviaciones éticas de los algoritmos y los robots respecto a la ciencia de la información tradicional. A través de la formación internacional y la colaboración intercultural, ICIE ha establecido su bien ganada reputación como la voz de liderazgo en ética de la información alrededor del mundo. El legado más importante de ICIE reside en su temprano y duradero apoyo de colaboración con la Red Africana para la Ética de la Información (ANIE) y el Centro Africano de Excelencia para la Ética de la Información (ACEIE). El artículo es una reflexión sobre el rol y la influencia de ANIE desde 2007 y del ACEIE desde 2012, a través del apoyo de ICIE en favor de la internacionalización de la ética de la información en África. Se mostrará que el enfoque de ACEIE que da fundamento al desarrollo de las culturas de la información a través de África proporciona a ICIE el marco teórico y la estructura necesarios para anclar su amplio foco académico en un entendimiento auténtico respecto a los sistemas de valores y formas de vivir no solo de los africanos, sino de la gente alrededor del mundo.

Introduction and purpose
Via its journal, the International Review of Information Ethics, ICIE has pioneered much of the research that is only now being considered crucial by government and industry towards the establishment of a successful and equitable digital society. Through its many partnerships and conferences, ICIE has established localized chapters around the world, and continues to expand its influence through the development of new chapters, even as the world enters a post-COVID era. Relaunched in 2018 under a new community-led philosophy, ICIE is in the process of redefining its goals and mission. Through its communityled model, it is working to re-establish and define the parameters of the field of Information Ethics for a new generation.
Upon the retirement of its founder and director, Dr. Rafael Capurro, ICIE was relaunched during 2018 under a new vision and administration, and is now hosted by the Kule Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Alberta, Canada.
Since its relaunch, ICIE has established new chapters in North Africa, India and Latin America. It has set the foundations for the development of an ICIE-led Curriculum Consortium which will support the creation and teaching of courses in the field of Information Ethics via new partnerships with universities around the world. The nature of the success of ICIE"s community-led philosophy, however, cannot be truly understood without first comprehending the history and process of the grounded community approach that led to the internationalisation of Information Ethics in Africa by ACEIE over the last two decades. The following article is therefore devoted to a description of the steps the ACEIE and ICIE took to achieve internationalisation of Information Ethics in Africa since 2007 and will endeavour to show how these steps played a critical role in the successful development of ICIE"s new community-led philosophy. 26(1), 202126(1), , pp. 196-215 ISSN: 230126(1), -1378

Background and Theoretical Foundations
The world in which we live today is radically different from the world in which any previous generation made their living. It is a world characterized not only by information communications technology, which enables people from all over the world to interact with one another 24 hours a day, but also by nanotechnology,  (Capurro, 2007). Instead, it was meant to serve as a platform for debates and deliberations on the similarities and differences between these, primarily Western, value system and those of other nations and cultures with the view of establishing an information ethics that could direct ICT usage all What emerged from this conference in terms of the WSIS definition, were three seemingly dominant positions. The first of these was that the imposition of a Western/European-oriented view of Information Ethics could have a negative impact on "national, local and indigenous cultures" in Africa, and that adherence to it should be approached "cautiously" to ensure that it does not further the erosion and marginalization of "indigenous knowledge and value systems" already caused by colonialism (Mashabi, 2013:42). The second position was that it was not impossible to "marry" Western and African values, traditions and philosophies given the many similarities between African value systems and those in other parts of the world (Capurro, 2013;Ocholla, 2013). According to Capurro agreed was that, unless the peoples of Africa used digital technologies responsibly and ethically, the consequences of its use could be devastating (Mutula, 2013).

Informed by their deliberations as well by the emphasis on inter-culturalism in the WSIS Declaration on Information Societies, delegates at the 2007 ANIE
Conference formulated their own "African" Declaration on African IE.
Encapsulated in this declaration, which was referred to as "Tshwane Declaration on Information Ethics for Africa", was delegates" vision of an African society committed to peace, the upholding of fundamental values (freedom, equality, solidarity and tolerance), shared responsibility, and respect for nature (ANIE, 2007b). Delegates believed that by committing themselves to uphold these  (Capurro, 2013b).

Internationalization in Africa
The  countries subscribe to some degree to the notion of "ubuntu", an umbrella term for a philosophical orientation which emphasizes the nature of humanity in terms of recognizing and affirming the humanity of all people by, inter alia, establishing humane, respectful relationships (Ramose, 2004), sharing and caring for one another in order to become "a person through other persons" (Olinger, Britz and Olivier, 2005:293). Put differently, all Africans subscribe to the principle of "communal existence" (Brannigan, 2002(Brannigan, /2005, symbiotically "living with and through the other" (Senghort, 1964:72/73), without necessarily having to sacrifice their own cultural beliefs, traditions and/or languages.
It is this last point, living with and through the other without having to sacrifice one"s own beliefs, traditions or culture, which distinguishes internationalization from globalization. Whereas plurality is preserved in the former, it is, by implication, negated in the latter and, more specifically, if globalization is to result in a single, "global village". Whereas the premise on which globalization rests is universality, the premise on which internationalization rests is unity in diversity. It follows that concerted efforts to globalize the world would have as a key objective the assimilation of all cultures, traditions, beliefs and/or languages into a single global one. The key objective of internationalization, however, is not assimilate any culture into another, nor to force people to associate or bond with others whose values are markedly different from theirs. Rather, its purpose is to create opportunities for multiple "cross-cultural dialogues, marked by a fundamental respect …. for the irreducible differences that define our cultures and identities" (Ess, 2007:98). If bonding were to happen, it should be because such bonding would create a life that is broader and fuller than the one in which they happen to find themselves at any particular moment (Taylor, 2002:191 and value systems but also to find ways in which these systems could broaden/expand Western/European philosophical perspectives on Information Ethics (Ess, 2007:114;Frohmann, 2007:139). To this purpose, ANIE conferences and ACEIE workshops would, where possible and applicable, include deliberations on ways in which digital technologies could be used to authenticate, map and restore marginalised African knowledge systems (Meshabi, 2007;Msuya, 2007;Löwstedt, 2007:205;Ocholla, 2007:242) on the one hand, and to stem the African "brain drain" (Britz, 2007), on the other.

ACEIE Internationalization Strategy
The   Since the on-going support of UNESCO, at whose 2003 WSIS the worldwide IE advocacy initiative was launched, was critical to the successful internationalisation of IE in Africa, the ACEIE ensured the attendance of one or more of its staff members at meetings, seminars and/or conferences of UNESCO in Paris (France) and/or of its structures in Africa as well as the UNESCO, CI and IFAP committees in South Africa. Moreover, it involved representatives of these UNESCO structures and committees in as many of its own activities as possible.
In doing so, the ACEIE not only strengthened its relations with UNESCO as an international body but also ensured that the IE concerns and challenges of Africa formed part of international discussion and deliberations.
Other ways in which the ANIE/ACEIE wanted to nurture internationalism was through the promotion of North-South research. To this purpose it planned to create opportunities for IE researchers in Africa to publish their findings in academic journals. Collaboration with research partners were central to this

Results & Achievements of the Internationalization of IE
Having summarised ACEIE activities which either implicitly or explicitly contributed to the internationalization of IE and, in turn, to the wider communityled philosophy of ICIE, it can be concluded that these activities not only led to greater engagement on, and authentic insights into IE issues and challenges in African countries but also in the rest of the world via their influence on the wider activities of the International Center for Information Ethics. The ACEIE"s success in this regard is evident in the active engagement of at least 300 subscribers to ANIE, the increase in IE research articles by African academics, the introduction of stand-alone IE programmes or short courses at HEIs on the African continents and/or the integration of IE themes in existing HEI programmes, the localization of the South African Digital Wellness Toolkit for schools and communities, the quality of papers delivered at IE-related workshops and conferences, and the increased attention that African governments and private sector companies in Africa are paying to the development of IE policies and training programs (Fischer & Malan, 2019).
The importance of sound research as a basis for all of these as well as the need to take cognizance of differences in the ways in which research findings would be implemented in different contexts are acknowledged by UNESCO, academics, policy developers, the private and education sectors, and governments across the world. There is, therefore, indications of international agreement that IE research is not merely a "nice-to-have" but a necessity for the development of international understanding, cooperation, and respect within the digital structures of information societies.
The commitment of African scholars to promote and engage in research is evident, not only from the fact that IE-related papers at all conferences (irrespective of the themes and/or topics addressed) were research-based, but also in the emphasis placed on Information Ethics at conferences, the increased publication of IE research articles in academic journals, the extent of research that  26(1), 202126(1), , pp. 196-215 ISSN: 230126(1), -1378 preceded the development of IE programmes and resource materials, and the training of students as IE researchers at higher education institutions across the continent.
The importance that academics and policy makers attach to research as a component of development is evident from the emphasis they place on the need to conduct IE research that would contribute to the restoration of the human dignity of Africa"s peoples, the erosion of corruption at all levels of society, and ways of developing African countries as Knowledge and Information societies. It is therefore not surprising that much of the IE research conducted on the continent since 2007 has focused on the potential impact of globalisation and a digital culture on society, the preservation and/or resuscitation of marginalised African knowledge and value systems, access to and the accessibility of information for all, the prioritisation of quality education, and the need for IT literacy training.

From Africa to Oxford
Following the lead of ACEIE and ANIE, the very entities that ICIE helped establish and support in their own foundation and growth, the International Center for Information Ethics has in turn officiated a new community-led philosophy in 2018 based on a theory of localized, ground-up engagement with regional cultures. This pragmatic approach to engagement had already been informing the academic community and pursuits of ICIE for almost a decade before it was officiated upon ICIE"s relaunch. Much like the ACEIE curriculum framework outlined above, the ICIE academic community recognized that a single unified approach not only failed to meet the needs of the localized populations of Africa, but it also resulted in the continuation of a systematic enforcement of westernbased philosophies and views. Influenced by the internationalization coming out of Africa, the academic community of ICIE, led by Rafael Capurro, introduced the foundation for a new branch of the field in 2007, a branch that would aptly be called Intercultural Information Ethics (IIE) (Capurro, R. 2008). The creation of IIE formalized the internationalization process.
The recent academic initiatives of ICIE have led forward using the above approach as outlined under ICIE"s newly adopted mission. In doing so, such The main event of the symposium focused on a panel that hosted a debate between Charles Ess" IIE theory of irreducible differences, and Pak-Hang Wong"s critique of it.

Conclusion
The African Internationalization of IE culminating among the ivory towers of academia is a testament to the value of a philosophy that prioritizes the authentic localized experience. As highlighted above, the western philosophical tradition shares a number of commonalities with non-western traditions. Such commonalities have to be experienced before they can be labelled and the experiential encounter can only take place in a localized setting. The hidden commonalities between cultures are what allow for an authentic face-to-face interaction with an "other". As the African Ubuntu saying goes, "I am because we are." Over the two decades of its existence, ICIE has both consciously and  26(1), 202126(1), , pp. 196-215 ISSN: 230126(1), -1378 210 unconsciously adopted the African experience of information societies, as is reflected in its focus on establishing both North-South and South-South relationships.
The ACEIE views it as an imperative that, while South-South networks must be strengthened to ensure research of a high quality, North-South research networks must not be neglected. The African internationalization of IE as tandem to the creation of a viable IIE theory will ensure that Africa not only remains a part of the global information and knowledge society but a key player in it. The legacy of the ACEIE and ANIE pioneering accomplishments are reflected in the ICIE community-led philosophy which approaches the global information and knowledge society as consisting of not one information society, but rather information societies (plural) that are, as Charles Ess puts it, "irreducible" (Ess, C. 2007