ICT4Peace has had quite a year! Over the course of 2019, the breadth and complexity of our work can be gleaned through the more than 80 blog posts as well as many more tweets and Facebook updates. However, this begs the question of how can one measure impact? If peace can be characterized as, at the very least, the absence of violence and more fully as the presence of justice, rights and dignity, what, if anything, can information and communications technologies (ICTs) bring to bear? Given the pendulum shifts in the media and policy discourses in the West, swinging from unbridled optimism to unchecked dystopia, social media and the web are routinely characterized both as evidence of amazing innovation as well as evil incarnate. Is there a more critical path of engagement, eschewing extremes?
The Foundation’s roots lie in the articulation that ICTs can play a positive role in peace. “We value the potential of ICTs to promote peace and to prevent conflict, begins Paragraph 36 of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS). When this was penned in 2005, there was no Twitter, TikTok, WhatsApp or Telegram. YouTube was less than a year old. Facebook had just launched a year earlier and was limited to a select few universities and alumni in the US. BlackBerrys were the smartest phones around. The iPod had a click wheel and the iPhone hadn’t yet been conceived of. Paragraph 36 embraces a vision of the future that is, arguably, already old news. The Foundation no longer has to convince audiences about the impact and importance of ICTs in peacebuilding. At the same time, it is a conversation that is far from over.
2019 brought to the fore how nascent, embryonic technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) test global, regional and local policy making on the uses of these technologies. Norms and standards–more contested than crystalized–continue to evolve, but at a pace slower than the evolution and actual use of technologies. The Foundation observes and provides analysis and insight to these processes – but we too struggle on multiple fronts. More than in previous years, 2019 put a spotlight on challenges to the effective governance of new technologies with the potential to wreak havoc on a scale, scope and speed exceeding, in many ways, conventional weapons. And yet, the flip side of these weaponized advances speaks to the systemic strengthening of peace through new technologies. The conversations around these topics are difficult, frustrating and oftentimes thankless, but ultimately vital and necessary.
By design, we find ourselves at the intersections of discussions anchored to AI, LAWS, social media, terrorism, peacebuilding, digital governance, regulation, hate speech, countering violent extremism and terrorism, freedom of expression, privacy and surveillance. We engage with the naysayers, but press on to untangle complex problems – even those to which we don’t have the answers. This questioning, probing and providing informed input to key debates places us in a unique position, both immersed in grassroots discussions in disparate geographies as well as having access to and enjoying the trust of high level actors at governmental, inter-governmental and senior diplomatic levels at the United Nations (UN).
As in previous years, the priorities of the Foundation have been loosely organized in two pillars:1) high-level discussions on cyber security, working with governments , the UN and other multilateral agencies as well as the private sector; and 2) existential challenges closer to the ground, especially in regions of protracted violence, instability and weakened governance. On Easter Sunday 2019, the Foundation responded to the tragic incidents of violence in Christchurch, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, engaging in the complex dynamics of social media in cycles of violent extremism and terrorism as well as contributing to the architecture of resilience, peace and democracy. From op-eds in domestic and international media and high level conversations with Silicon Valley social media companies, to lectures at universities and other venues, published papers and academic output, the Foundation’s response to terrorism in New Zealand and Sri Lanka was unmatched by any other entity working in the domain of peace technology and ICTs for peace. Foundation members gave interviews on how technology companies could do better in combatting violent extremism on their platforms. The Foundation is unique in this regard, since we bring to bear both deep, long-standing experience of and expertise in countries as far afield as Afghanistan and Myanmar, as well as access to and regular meetings with senior policy makers.
In 2019 our ongoing work with the International Criminal Court (ICC) was emblematic of our contributions. Our recommendations for social media strategy, verification and visualisation will help the ICC position itself better as a platform to communicate its mission and mandate, as well as to better leverage the power of social media raise awareness about even those atrocities in very remote geographies.
From the contours of a post-truth world to countering violent extremism, from data and evidence based perspectives on social media’s ability to influence terrorist attacks to lectures at leading Swiss universities on ICTs in governance and policy making, public lectures and keynote presentations at key fora and events including the internationally acclaimed Zurich Film Festival (ZFF), the Foundation was at the cutting-edge of domestic and global conversations on the nature and use of technologies to promote hate as well as pushback against it.
The Foundation brought to public awareness the challenges of AI, Autonomous (Weapons) Systems and Peace Time Threats, and coined the term “Digital Human Security,” bringing a sense of urgency for the need to develop a new and human-centric approach to security in this new era of rapid technological advances. Through numerous publications, lectures and interviews, all of which have been captured in detail on our website, the Foundation pushed the envelope on strategic thinking and security policy implications in this domain, reaffirming its expertise in the fields of diplomacy, policy making and research.
As one of the founding members of the Christchurch Call’s Advisory Group, the Foundation provided input to help expand the domestic and international reach of the Call across various geographies and political contexts. As a vehicle for global multistakeholder conversations on the importance of a rights-based approach to technology governance, the Foundation continues to champion the Christchurch Call as a vital policy instrument, complementing other high-level public and private initiatives.
Other key activities of the Foundation over the course of 2019 include providing insight into the role of social media in elections including the nature of disinformation and propaganda operations in electoral campaigns.
And of course, our work – started in 2011 – on building global norms of responsible state behaviour, confidence building measures (CBMs) and capacity building for a peaceful and secure cyberspace continued in 2019 with our tested Cybersecurity Policy and Diplomacy workshops for Latin American and African Policy Makers and Diplomats, and participation in and support of the UN Open Ended Working Group (UN OEWG) and UN UNGGE meetings in the second half of 2019. In this very context ICT4Peace launched in 2019 the “Call to Governments: Offensive Cyber Operations and Critical Infrastructure” and in 2018 the process entitled Cyber-Accountability: Building Attribution Capability.
Though small and geographically dispersed, our trusted, globally renowned members continue to champion ways through which ICTs and social media can help to strengthen our better angels. 2020 will bring a new set of challenges which may make those we have grappled with over 2019 seem quaint by comparison. This attempt to accurately capture our work and output is, I always fear, inadequate, but the richness of the discussions I am privy to, the quality of our outputs and the positive feedback we received are all intangible but represent the most rewarding aspects of our work.
ICT4Peace’s work and will continue to expand in 2020, and for this we ask for your support. Our work is entirely supported by project-based funding and donations by governments, institutions and individuals who believe in our mission and mandate. Sadly, funding is generally becoming more scarce, even as the appreciation of the need for and urgency of our work grows. Please consider supporting our endeavours, with a view to promoting peace and preventing conflict.
May I take this opportunity to wish our followers and supporters a very Happy New Year. Our work and journey onward, continues.
Daniel Stauffacher
President
ICT4Peace Foundation
20 December 2019
