Communication Technology for Conflict Prevention and Humanitarian Response: Opportunities and Challenges for Policy and Practice

Brown Bag Lunch with Charles Martin-Shields 

November 5, 2014
12-1 p.m.
Center for Australian, New Zealand and Pacific Studies
232 Intercultural Center (ICC)
Georgetown University
Co-sponsored by the Conflict Resolution Program, Department of Government

Communication technologies (ICTs) such as mobile phones as increasingly being used for crisis response and conflict prevention by government agencies and NGOs alike. We are still learning how these technologies fit into existing methods for intervening in crises though, on both the institutional and beneficiary sides. Mr. Martin-Shields will discuss his recent research and policy advising work during a Fulbright-Clinton Fellowship with the Samoan Ministry of Information and Communications. He’ll also be sharing insights about government policy aspects of using ICTs for crisis response, as well as initial findings on how individuals make use of digital information during disasters. Please RSVP to canzps@georgetown.edu.

Charles Martin-Shields is a doctoral candidate at George Mason University’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. His research focuses on the comparative politics and social economy of using communication technology and social media for crisis response and conflict prevention. His most recent article on ICTs and violence prevention, “Inter-ethnic Cooperation Revisited: Why mobile phones can help prevent discrete events of violence, using the Kenyan case study,” was published inStability. His writing has also featured in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, on the Lowy Institute’s Interpreter blog, and PeaceDirect’s Insight on Conflict. Mr. Martin-Shields was a Fulbright-Clinton Fellow in Samoa, and previously worked with TechChange Inc and the U.S. Institute of Peace.