ICT4Peace was an early advisor to and sponsor of this first of its kind conference ‘Peace Through Technology‘ at MIT, Cambridge in April 2014.

The Conference explored how information and communications technologies, games, networking platforms and other tools can enhance the impact of a broad range of peacebuilding, social cohesion and peace advocacy initiatives.

ICT4Peace Foundation’s Sanjana Hattotuwa gave a highly acclaimed keynote speech ‘ICT4Peace: Future conflict and transformation’, a live recording of which is up on YouTube and is embedded below.

In his speech Sanjana envisioned ten to fifteen years in the future, and how at that time information and communications technologies (ICTs) would feature in both the genesis and inflammation of complex political emergencies (CPEs) – in other words, violent conflict – as well as aid in peacebuilding and conflict transformation. Given the commemoration of the Rwandan genocide twenty years ago, Sanjana’s central question was a simple one – for all the apps, services, websites, tools and platforms showcased during the workshop, could any of us be certain that another genocide could be prevented, or acted upon quicker?

The slides from his presentation can be seen below and also accessed here.

The future of technology in peacebuilding: Presentation at MIT Media Lab from Sanjana Hattotuwa