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As a global custodian
of technology in the pursuit of
peace, the ICT4Peace Foundation
congratulates the United Nations on
its 75th anniversary. ICT4Peace
was launched with the support of
the Swiss Government in 2003. We
helped define the framework for
technology in peacebuilding through Paragraph
36 of the Tunis Commitment of the UN
World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS) in 2005. In the
same year, the preface by late UN
Secretary-General H.E. Kofi Anan to
‘Information
and Communication Technology for
Peace – The Role of ICT in
Preventing, Responding to and
Recovering from Conflict’
published by the UN ICT Taskforce
with ICT4Peace presciently noted
that,
ICTs are also
critical tools in peacekeeping
operations, including in
logistics. Moreover, ICTs can
help address the root causes of
violent conflict. By promoting
access to knowledge, they can
promote mutual understanding, an
essential factor in conflict
prevention and post-conflict
reconciliation. ICTs also offers
ways to reveal human rights
abuses, promote transparent
governance, and give people
living under repressive regimes
access to uncensored information
and an outlet to air their
grievances and appeal for help.
Fifteen years on, the
global relevance and enduring
resonance of these observations do
not surprise us. For close to two
decades, ICT4Peace is privileged to
be a trusted partner of and
strategic advisor to the UN. We have
helped the UN meaningfully embrace
the growing potential of technology
to strengthen peace, human rights
and democratic governance. We work
with a diverse range of UN agencies,
departments and entities to explore,
especially in recent years,
significant socio-technological
issues including:
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The migration of communications
to encrypted instant messaging
apps and what it means for
policymaking pegged to public
data.
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The resurgence of more tribal
identities online, along with
revisionist or exclusive
histories, leading to the
splintering of communities and
an aversion to diversity.
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Policies around tools and
platforms used to define, deny
or decry democracy and diversity
that are often the very same
used to strengthen civil society
activism and advocacy.
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The weaponisation of social
media and possible consequences
for democracy.
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Aspects of and navigating a
post-truth world, where veracity
is valued but markers of it are
increasingly evasive.
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The role of traditional media as
active agents of misinformation,
leading to complex networked
effects in news production and
media ecologies.
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