ICT and Protection: Can Information and Communication Technology Enhance Humanitarian Action?
Description:
Audio-only version:
Access the full version of the recording
Broadcast live from the Consulate of Switzerland (swissnex) Boston.
This Live Seminar examined questions and challenges pertaining to the development, use and effects of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in humanitarian activities. Increasingly used by humanitarian professionals in situations of emergency, armed conflicts and disasters, ICT has emerged as a component of effective and sustainable delivery of humanitarian relief. Yet ICT remains relatively under-theorized and utilized differently across contexts. Against the background of the increased use of ICT in humanitarian activities, this Live Seminar addressed the following questions:
How have technological innovations including crisis mapping, early warning, and crisis informatics shaped the roles and responsibilities of humanitarian professionals?
In what ways has ICT affected the selection, collection, and dissemination of conflict-related information?
What metrics are available to discern the scope and significance of ICT's effects on coordinating humanitarian aid delivery?
How has ICT transformed institutions providing humanitarian relief?
These questions were examined through critical inquiry into recent innovations in ICT, their application, and their (potential) consequences for humanitarian professionals. Naz Modirzadeh (Senior Associate at the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research) and Claude Bruderlein (Director of the Program) hosted the discussion.
Panelists included:
Sanjana Hattotuwa, ICT4Peace Foundation Salem Avan, United Nations
Olivier J. Cottray, iMMAP Mark Dalton, ReliefWeb
Mike Hartnett, Global Relief Technologies, Inc.
Patrick Meier, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative
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Broadcast live from the Consulate of Switzerland (swissnex) Boston: http://www.swissnexboston.org/
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Resources
Additional materials pertaining to this Live Seminar are available on the IHLRI Portal.
In partnership with:
The Federal Department for Foreign Affairs (FDFA) formulates and coordinates Swiss foreign policy on the instructions of the Federal Council. A coherent foreign policy is a precondition for the effective protection of Swiss interests vis-à-vis foreign countries.
Sida works according to directives of the Swedish Parliament and Government to reduce poverty in the world. The overall goal of Swedish development cooperation is to contribute to making it possible for poor people to improve their living conditions.
The Consulate of Switzerland/ swissnex Boston connects the best of many worlds by bridging the knowledge, energy and expertise in science, higher education and innovation between Switzerland, New England and Eastern Canada.
