[FoME] Wtrlt: [PR] Peacebuilding in the Information Age: Sifting Hype from Reality

[Sofie Jannusch]

A. Sofie Jannusch
Catholic Media Council
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>>> Daniel Stauffacher <danielstauffacher at ict4peace.org> 12.01.2011 06:55 >>>



Peacebuilding in the Information Age: Sifting Hype from Reality


10 January 2011, Switzerland: The ICT4Peace Foundation, in collaboration with the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University and GeorgiaTech, is pleased to release, on the occasion of the anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, the first in a series of papers looking at the increasingly important role of information and communication technology (ICT) in conflict prevention, peacebuilding, peacekeeping and crisis response. 

Unlike other papers on innovative technologies (crowdsourcing, social networking etc) dealing with crisis response, reconstruction and humanitarian aid, this collection of thought provoking pieces by esteemed writers, including former Finnish President and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Martti Athisaari and a younger generation of cutting edge practitioners and scholars in this fast moving space, aims to encourage meaningful debate and action on how to solve the serious challenges that still exist in the effective use of ICTs. 

“There has been solid progress in improving the international community’s response to crises through the effective use of innovative ICTs in crisis information management. However, there is still a long road ahead. In particular, we need to focus on how to extract and use verified information from crowdsourced data. The right mechanisms and tools for effective and coordinated crisis information management still need to be developed and refined.” Daniel Stauffacher, Co-Founder and Chairman, ICT4Peace Foundation.

Going beyond the current debate and positive hype about ICTs, this paper probes difficult questions and provides concrete recommendations concerning:

• the effectiveness of current systems of crisis information management;
• the need for a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of the use of ICTs in crisis response by the academic community;
• the need for better coordinative mechanisms amongst the key players, including the UN and its various agencies;
• the humanitarian responsibility of various actors, in particular new players such as crowdsourcing providers and social media;
• the serious challenges that still need to be overcome in terms of underlying political, hierarchical and traditional resistance to information-sharing amongst diverse organizations;
• the negative potential of ICTs in compromising the security of persons at risk in conflict situations;
• the lessons learned from the earthquake in Haiti on the use of new ICTs in disaster response situations and,
• the big picture of what this shift to an ICT-focused approach really means for existing humanitarian response systems.

Download the report here - http://ict4peace.org/updates/peacebuilding-in-the-information-age-sifting-hype-from-reality

For more details contact Daniel Stauffacher, Chairman, ICT4Peace Foundation via danielstauffacher at ict4peace.org

###

ICT4Peace took root with pioneering research on the role of ICTs in preventing, responding to and recovering from conflict in 2003 and lead to the adoption of Paragraph 36 by the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis in 2005 which recognises ?...the potential of ICTs to promote peace and to prevent conflict which, inter alia, negatively affects achieving development goals. ICTs can be used for identifying conflict situations through early-warning systems preventing conflicts, promoting their peaceful resolution, supporting humanitarian action, including protection of civilians in armed conflicts, facilitating peacekeeping missions, and assisting post conflict peace-building and reconstruction".

Download a report on the use of Information and Communications Technologies for peacebuilding (ICT4Peace), with a Preface by Kofi A. Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations here - http://old.ict4peace.org/articles/ict4peace_ebook1.pdf

The ICT4Peace Foundation (www.ict4peace.org) works to promote the practical realisation of Paragraph 36 and looks at the role of ICT in crisis management, covering aspects of early warning and conflict prevention, peace mediation, peacekeeping, peace-building as well as natural disaster management and humanitarian operations. 

Follow ICT4Peace on Twitter here - http://www.twitter.com/ict4peace

Follow ICT4Peace on Facebook here - http://facebook.com/ict4peace 
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