ICT4Peace is pleased to announce, that the Zentrum für Internationalen Friedensdienst (ZIF) in Berlin and the ICT4 have signed an MoU, that will provide a framework for cooperation in the fields of education, training and promoting capacity development for African peace support training institutions as well as in the field of crisis information management. In particular, ZIF and ICT4Peace will cooperate in the furtherance of training and capacity building in the field of crisis information management for peace support operations. A priority task of such cooperation is to elaborate and introduce best practice in training in the fields related to peace support operations (PSO), conflict resolution, crisis managem...

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As noted in the Foreword by Dr. Choi Soon-hong, Assistant Secretary-General & Chief Information Technology Officer, The goal of the ICT strategy, described in this publication, is to maximize the value of ICT in improving the Secretariat’s overall effectiveness and efficiency at delivering its services to the global community. The main thrusts of the ICT strategy are to overcome the difficulties attributable to what has become a highly fragmented ICT environment and to build strategic, integrated ICT capabilities through the introduction of improved systems, tools and methods to the Organization. Page 30 of the report notes the Foundation's on-going work with the United Nations to support the design and devel...

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Status of implementation of the information and communications technology strategy for the United Nations Secretariat, Report of the Secretary-General (A/65/491) prominently underscores the Crisis Information Management (CiM) Strategy, which the ICT4Peace Foundation has supported the UN's Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT) to design and develop since 2008. Under the section 'United Nations system-wide harmonisation efforts', the report notes (Pg 38), Crisis information management strategy. The Crisis Information Management Strategy is based on the recognition that the United Nations, its Member States, constituent agencies and non-governmental organizations need to improve such informat...

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The ICT4Peace Foundation congratulated Ushahidi via email today on the launch of Crowdmap. The Foundation expressed its confidence that the launch of this new platform, based on Ushahidi’s proven utility in a variety of scenarios, will help further popularize the platform in, inter alia, the management of crises, help in the protection of human rights and protection of civilians in armed conflicts, monitor elections and human displacement.

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Originally published here. 05 Jul 2010 13:23:22 GMT Source: IRIN Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone. NAIROBI, 5 July 2010 (IRIN) - "Crowd-sourcing" is a new buzzword in the world of humanitarian information. The combined power of mobile phones, mapping technology and social networking can enable citizens in crisis to seek help, facilitate aid deliveries, bear witness to abuses and hold governments and aid agencies more accountable, advocates say. Crowd-sourcing on platforms including Ushahidi, for example, [http://ushahidi.com] [http://irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=89473] took place on an ...

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Click here to watch the video. Sanjana Hattotuwa, Special Advisor to the ICT4Peace Foundation, was part of a panel looking at ICTs and risk management at the IDRC Global Risk Forum held recently in Davos, Switzerland. The so-called Red Chair interview was an opportunity for panelists and speakers to briefly share their thoughts on video. Sanjana’s submission was recorded just after the conclusion of a panel on ICTs in disaster and crisis management, anchored to the following description, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have an enormous impact on the way public and private actors gather and share information, regulate access to relevant knowledge, and communicate with each other. Effectively ...

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Download the full report here. Summary: New information and communication technologies, new information providers, and new international communities of interest emerged during the Haiti earthquake response that will forever change how humanitarian information is collected, shared, and managed.  Humanitarian responders used social networking media, mobile phone text messaging, open source software applications, and commercial satellite imagery more than ever before.  Outside of the established international humanitarian community, volunteers and participatory reporters from the affected population became new sources of data and information.  Humanitarian organizations, host governments, and the donor communit...

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  The Global Peace Index, which has just released its 2010 rankings. See them at http://www.visionofhumanity.org. As noted on the website, 149 nations of the world have been ranked by their peacefulness and the results have stimulated some very interesting analysis.  Daniel Stauffacher, former Ambassador of Switzerland & Chairman, ICT4Peace Foundation and Maria Cattaui, former Secretary General, International Chamber of Commerce, former Managing Director, World Economic Forum have endorsed the Global Peace Index since its inception.

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25 May 2010, Geneva, Switzerland: During the high-level debate on 'ICTs for Disaster Management' and the workshop on 'Getting it Right in Crisis Management: Going beyond the hype on ICTs' at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) FORUM 2010 held in May, the ICT4Peace Foundation was pleased to announce a new phase of support for the Ushahidi crisis information management platform.Ushahidi is a prime example of a new generation of crowd-sourced crisis information management tools that have demonstrated significant progress in relaying vital information to decision makers in crises. The ICT4Peace Foundation recognises that these platforms need to further strengthen information validation by assessing in a timely...

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Click here to access the recording of Getting it Right in Crisis Management: Going beyond the hype on ICTs, a panel discussion held on 13 May 2010, organised by the ICT4Peace Foundation held at the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) 2010. All the recordings from WSIS 2010 are available here. You will need RealPlayer to view these files. Panel description Haiti is seen as a turning point in the use of ICTs in Crisis Management but many lessons remain unheeded from previous disasters such as the 2005 Tsunami. Indeed, there is an expectation that ICTs themselves can revolutionize crisis management and provide a “quick-fix” in solving intractable, complex situations often in politically unstable locat...

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