About the Event:
With access to mobile phones, cloud computing and the internet expanding rapidly in low- and middle-income states, new avenues of participation, engagement, and accountability are emerging for people to influence processes that impact their society. Peacebuilding is not immune to these changing dynamics. Known as PeaceTech, this intersection of technology, data and media to reduce violent conflict is an emerging field that offers new ways for citizens to democratize and engage with peacebuilding processes.
While most of the attention on technology for peacebuilding has focused on early warning and response sourced from social media, PeaceTech is a cross-sector, multi-disciplinary field that is radically changing the peacebuilding field through the creation of alternative infrastructures for peace. Digital media offers tools for local peace builders to easily, and across a vast scale, challenge dominant conflict narratives with alternative visions. Networking platforms provide new avenues for positive communication and relationship-building to be fostered between conflict groups, which creates digital trust networks.
As PeaceTech provides innovative tools to counter age-old drivers of conflict it is important to explore what they mean for broader peacebuilding processes. This will be the central question addressed at the sixth instalment of the Centre for Security Governance’s eSeminar series on “Contemporary Debates on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding”, presented in collaboration with the Balsillie School of International Affairs and Wilfrid Laurier University’s Department of Global Studies. Our distinguished panelists will each give brief introductory remarks, followed by an open Q&A period where participants will be able to engage the panel directly.
The eSeminar, which took place on February 1st from 12:00 PM EST to 2:00 PM EST, was open to the public and free to attend.
Speaker Order:
- Platform Introduction: Andrew Koltun, Centre for Security Governance
- Moderator: Dr. Mark Sedra, Centre for Security Governance
- Giselle Lopez, PeaceTech Lab
- Dr. Walter Dorn, Canadian Forces College
- Dr. Nada Basir, University of Waterloo
- Anwar Abas, SalamaTech (SecDev Foundation) - Open Q&A
How to register
Watch the recording at https://youtu.be/5lDqlLqNSsI