Using the web and Internet for democracy – Burma and others

"Images of saffron-robed monks leading throngs of people along the streets of Rangoon have been seeping out of a country famed for its totalitarian regime and repressive control of information.The pictures are sometimes grainy and the video footage shaky - captured at great personal risk on mobile phones - but each represents a powerful statement …

Towards a new cartography: Mapping a peace process using Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

In exploring the possibilities of constructing a mapping process for peace in Sri Lanka, this monograph engages with the theoretical aspects of process mapping and then explores possible ways in which such mapping exercises can be conducted. The author’s research into the creation of Computer Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW) systems to support negotiations and peacebuilding …

A conversation with Daniel Stauffacher on ICT4Peace and how it can help conflict resolution

Do you believe that the better use of technology can strengthen peace processes to the extent that there will be more peace 5 years hence than today? Yes indeed. ICTs and in particular web 2.0 will create even more transparency and efficient tools for actors in the field of conflict prevention, mediation, conflict resolution and …

Launch of ICT4Peace inventory wiki: A global database ICT in crisis management, humanitarian aid and peacebuilding

27th August 2007, Geneva, Switzerland: The ICT4Peace Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of its ICT4Peace Inventory Wiki, accessible immediately from http://www.ict4peace.org/inventory-1.html. The ICT4Peace inventory wiki is one of three key foci of the ICT4Peace Foundation. It will be updated regularly and highlight emerging best practices from the field, significant research initiatives and well-grounded …

ICT as a tool for Peacebuilding, Conflict Prevention and Crisis Management: Some pertinent questions

I was invited to attend a panel discussion on “ICT as a Tool for Peace, Conflict Prevention and Crisis Management” on 17 July 2007 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Participants of the panel were asked to respond to questions that pushed them to address the realities of using ICT in conflict prevention, …

Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering

Internet filtering takes place in over two dozens states worldwide including many countries in Asia and the Middle East and North Africa. Related Internet content control mechanisms are also in place in Canada, the United States and a cluster of countries in Europe. Drawing on a just-completed survey of global Internet filtering undertaken by the …

ICT4Peace before ICT4D: Why it is important to look at ICT for peacebuilding and conflict resolution

Growing up in conflict does one of two things – it teaches you the limitations of violence to engender sustainable social change, or it compels you to enter the cycle of violence itself. Especially when the well-springs of hope have run dry, violence is often perceived to be an effective way to change the order …

ICT4Peace featured on The Communication Initiative

Kier Olsen DeVries, Senior Editor of The Communication Initiative, with whom I've been occasionally in touch with for several years regarding my work in media, peacebuilding and ICT4Peace, wrote in to say that this blog well be featured for the next week on The Communication Initiative's homepage! The Communication Initiative (The CI) network is an …

Between truth and lies: Designing negotiations systems for ODR and peacebuilding

Came across a fascinating paper titled Deception and Design: The Impact of Communication Technology on Lying Behavior that's a must read for anyone interested in Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) and the design of applications in support of internet / web mediated conflict resolution processes. Social psychology has demonstrated that lying is an important, and frequent, …

Outlawed – Using video for Human Rights protection and documentation

Bush, Michael Scheuer, the chief architect of the rendition program and former head of the Osama Bin Laden unit at the CIA, and Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. Secretary of State."Outlawed" places the post-9/11 phenomenon of renditions and the "war on terror" in a human rights context and calls for action end these human rights abuses.The use of video to document human rights abuses is a topic I've written about earlier on this blog, and is covered elsewhere as well.... I see this as a process, within the context of ICT4Peace, as one that will complement initiatives such as Human Rights Video Hub of Witness and in Sri Lanka, citizen journalism initiatives such as Groundviews and VOR Radio.In this digital age, we are all witnesses, and while professionally produced documentaries such as Outlawed will continue to be made, the real challenge for human rights activists this century will be on how to transform the millions of citizens who already have the tools with which to document human rights violations in the palm of their hands to use them for more than frivolous SMS's.