Society

Technology Workshops Connect Community Leaders

Technology Workshops Connect Community Leaders

Many people around the world wish for peace in the world and although it still seem far-fetched, there are many who are working to achieve it, such as the PeaceTech Lab, which is using technology workshops to help community leaders in conflict zones connect with each other.

Many might think that such technology workshops are more suited for places such as Seattle or San Francisco, but the PeaceTech Lab, through its PeaceTech Exchanges is conducting workshops in Basra, a city in Iraq. The PeaceTech Lab is under the auspices of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), a government-funded institution based in Washington, D.C.

Workshops

The workshops are aimed to gather community leaders who work for peace, such as government officials, civic leaders and activists in conflict zones to come together and share their tech knowledge and their peaceful visions for their communities. The aim of the PeaceTech Exchanges is to provide these leaders with an accessible technology platform so that they can receive help to make their visions into reality.

The workshops started two years ago and have been held in Uganda, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Burma and now Iraq. There are plans to have workshops in Afghanistan as well.

Aside from giving the leaders a space to make their vision a reality, the PeaceTech Exchanges offers financial support for some of their locally conceived projects.

Danger zone map

One of the projects that had been realized is called Crowdmap. It tracks incidents where journalists were threatened with violence, which helps them to identify dangerous places. After verification, additions to the platform could be done anonymously via email or a text message. Additions could also be done directly through an app or the Crowdmap website.

The map was a result of the collaboration between Jorge Luis Sierra, a Mexican reporter and Ibrahim Alsragey, the director of the Iraqi Journalists Rights Defense Association. They met in Erbil, a city in Northern Iraq and decided to jointly work on the Crowdmap based on the Ushahidi-developed platform that the Mexican reporter used previously to track violence committed against journalists in his country.

Online courses

The organization had also formed a partnership with the Drexel University’s College of Engineering in coordination with USIP’s Academy for International Conflict Management & Peacebuilding. They will develop an online curriculum called Peace Tech: Conflict Management for Engineers that will provide skills for mediation, negotiation and conflict analysis. The online courses are set to begin this Fall 2015.

Copyright: homeros / 123RF Stock Photo

Comment Below
Society

More in Society

Emoji as Powerful as Words

Emoji Could Be Even More Powerful Than Words

Christina CombenApril 24, 2017
Pepsi

Pepsi Misses the Mark with “Cringeworthy” Commercial

Christina CombenApril 5, 2017
assange

Julian Assange Questioned Over Sex-Crime Accusations

Denise RecaldeNovember 14, 2016
mattenhof

German Hotel Faces Heat Over “Racist” Cancelled Booking

Denise RecaldeNovember 1, 2016
social-security

Social Security Increase for 2017 is Less than $4

Bernadine RacomaOctober 18, 2016
President Barack Obama views science exhibits during the 2015 White House Science Fair celebrating student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) competitions, in the Red Room, March 23, 2015. The President talks with Emily Bergenroth, Alicia Cutter, Karissa Cheng, Addy O'Neal, and Emery Dodson, all six-year-old Girl Scouts, from Tulsa, Oklahoma. They used Lego pieces and designed a battery-powered page turner to help people who are paralyzed or have arthritis. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.

World Observes the International Day of the Girl

Denise RecaldeOctober 11, 2016
columbus-day

A Closer Look at The History of Columbus Day

Christina CombenOctober 10, 2016
Brown University

Brown University to Address Campus Racism with $100 Million 10-Year Plan

Day NewsNovember 23, 2015
Calif., Gov. Jerry Brown answers a question concerning the budget agreement reached with legislative leaders at a Capitol news conference in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, June 16, 2015. Accompanied by Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, right, and Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, unseen, Brown outlined the budget plan that send billions more to public schools and universities in the fiscal year that begins July 1. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Translation of Drug Information Now a Law in California

Day NewsOctober 16, 2015