Technology that does not speak to the heart cannot bring peace
The weekend of September 9–11, I was fortunate to be at the BuildPeace 2016 Conference taking place this year at ETH university in Zurich.
The annual convening focuses on the intersection of technology, peacebuilding and social change. This was first time attending the conference and so far it has been a wonderful experience. It is an inspiring combination of geeks for good, civil society, donors, academics, social enterprises and others.
The themes of the conference this are on peace through technology, arts and research: toward as transformation. BuildPeace has a very interactive process combining workshops, talks, arts-based processes, open space and lots of amazing conversations around coffee. For example yesterday, I attended an excellent workshop on Peacestartup where Julian Ballesteros, one of the co-founders of the organization engaged the attendees in an interactive process similar to the one they are doing around Colombia to help spur more entrepreneurial activity at the intersection tech, entrepreneurship and change.
Buildpeace also awarded several fellowships to fellows this year working on innovation projects in the world including Burundi, Colombia and Myanmar. The projects range from efforts at documenting rumor control in Myanmar, designing open budgeting processes in Colombia and engaging youth in Burundi.
Helena Puig one of the founders of Build Peace talked about the essential goal of building participation as the central part of our processes to help communities build their own peace. She discusses that peace is not a destination but a constant dance and we need to understand the emergence of new innovation communities.
One of the most engaging people in the morning session was Sanjana Hattotuwa, special advisor for the of the ICT4Peace Foundation. The foundation has been working on tech and social change for over a decade, before it was cool. He made many powerful comments and reflections around power, impact, voice and privilege.He asked who is engaging whom? What does it mean to be in this field if we are only engaged with it from a privileged position? At the end of the day it is about what right’s the people we work with have. At the pursuit of tech for peace are we excluding others? What does it mean if so much of our work comes from corporate largesse? He reflected that in 2014 Airbnb suggested they should be nominated for the Nobel peace prize, while in 2016 they are struggling with systematic discrimination.
He went on to say what dose it mean for us as power brokers? Who are we to speak on behalf of others? All those who are attending the conference can at least afford to be here. Who are speaking for?
One of his strong critiques is the was the focus on countering violent extremism and tech. It is a technological approach to be political and social problem. Does one click actually make a difference? We cannot assume technology can solve anything?
Peace is not something we can brand, or a trademark. It is really about people having dignity. We need to help communities understand it is okay to be the people they are. To help people get back dignity that has been wrested away
What is next year going to a break? A new hashtag
Sanja said we need to have the humility to know we may not have the solution. Technology that does not speak to the heart cannot bring peace. We have to be careful not to be only technocrats. If it only a technocratic exercise it may not be a success.
Over the course of this weekend look for posts on social media, some blogs, some random thoughts and much more. I would encourage everyone to check out BuildPeace and learn more about the incredible work of this community and consider coming to next year’s event.
