ethics & technology trends

The subject of ethics is important to many: more than 63 percent of the participants would reject morally questionable work. 33 percent make their decision dependent on the nature of the matter and just over 2 percent do any job.

About 50 percent of the participants would raise their concerns within the company and 10 percent in public.

Eighty percent of respondents also feel that they are required to consider the ethical implications of their code. Only 6 percent see no reason for it. Another 12 percent are not sure what the correct course of action would be.

 We also asked the developers about the relevance of various hype topics today and in five years. The assessment was on a scale of 1 (unimportant) to 5 (very important). Clearly Machine Learning / AI and Big Data were in the lead - both today and in five years. Nearly 46 percent consider machine learning today as important or very important. In five years, this value should rise to over 80 percent. The same is true of big data: almost 53 percent of the respondents consider big data today as important or very important. In five years, this estimate rises to 71 percent.

For comparison Blockchain: The tail light of our Tech Barometer today is considered by just under 15 percent to be important or very important. In five years, this estimate increases to about 37 percent.

We also wanted to know if the developers attach relevance to the place of production of the software. The assessment was on a scale from 1 (unimportant) to 5 (very important). 53 percent believe that it is either important or very important that an IT product is developed in Switzerland. Another 23 percent are neutral.