The Permanent Representative of Switzerland hosted a High-Level working Lunch, on 15 November 2007. The event was sponsored by the ICT4Peace Foundation with the support of UN DESA Global Alliance for ICT and Development.

High level participation and contributions at this meeting included Permanent Representatives to the UN from Tunisia, Brazil, South Africa, France, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Egypt, Mali, Pakistan, Canada, Japan amongst a range of others as well as highly placed... continue reading

The latest issue of Peace IT!, a journal for conflict and crisis management professionals published by the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) is out and can be downloaded here. The journal explores how ICTs can be used effectively to prevent, manage and resolve crisis to the benefit of peace and security.

This issue features an article on ICT4Peace I wrote in my capacity as Special Advisor to the ICT4Peace Foundation on the launch of ICT4Peace: An International Process for Conflict Mana... continue reading

ICT4Peace: STRATEGIC USE OF ICTS IN CRISIS MANAGEMENTNew York, 15 November 2007Statement of Martti Ahtisaari, former President of FinlandI am a strong believer in the UN system and would welcome the appropriate UN agencies to stand up and take the leadership in these issues. This, to my mind, could be one important outcome of this process and a significant marker of the international community’s commitment to the values and principles to save lives as embodied in the ICT4Peace process.In supp... continue reading

ICT4Peace: “Strategic use of ICT for Crisis Management” - High-Level Working Lunch, 15th November 2007The Permanent Representative of Switzerland hosted a High-Level working Lunch, on 15 November 2007. The event was sponsored by the ICT4Peace Foundation with the support of  UN DESA Global Alliance for ICT and Development. The question of how best to move forward on pre-existing commitments was at the forefront of discussion at the High-Level Working Lunch on the use of ICT for crisis manageme... continue reading

The ICT4Peace Foundation was a partner in the organisation of the UN OCHA +5 Symposium (see presentation here), which has just released its Final Statement and Outcomes document.

As noted in OCHA Press Release on the occasion of the public release of these two documents:

"It it my great pleasure to provide you with the Global Symposium +5 'Information for Humanitarian Action' Final Statement and its accompanying Outcomes document. These documents represent a common vision of th... continue reading

Daniel Stauffacher, the Chairman of the ICT4Peace Foundation has been invited to participate at the Global forum on Emergency Telecommunications - 10-12 Dec 2007.

BackgroundIncreasingly, natural disasters are causing considerable loss of life and disrupting national economies, severely weakening the affected countries. While neither natural nor man-made hazards can be entirely prevented, information and communication technologies (ICT) can help reduce their impact and avoid them turni... continue reading

The UN/ISDR secretariat is launching PreventionWeb.net, a new website for increasing knowledge sharing on disaster risk reduction (DRR) issues, for both the general public – including media and teachers – and DRR specialists, on 15 November.

"Information and knowledge are key to reducing disasters, and this new tool will facilitate the sharing of information, expertise and experience. Prevention Web will be a reference for experts, practitioners and all people interested in building res... continue reading

Development Gateway has changed significantly in response to external challenges and the emergence of new web-based technologies. Their experience highlights some of the lessons learned in the process that may be relevant for web 2.0 initiatives.With more than 260,000 registered users and 800,000 unique visitors per month in mid-2007, the Development Gateway is the largest searchable repository of development information and tools on the internet.The concept of the Development Gateway was fir... continue reading

There is an increasing recognition amongst the international community, including governments, non-governmental organizations and the United Nations agencies that the timely collection and exchange of accurate and impartial information during humanitarian crises requires mayor improvements. Such improvements could contribute to save thousands of lives and requires the sustained commitment of the international community to effective management of information and knowledge, by using appropriate... continue reading

"I come from a professional background – the world of diplomacy – where information and words are absolutely key to everything we do. The collection and analysis of information, questions about with whom to share it – and more importantly sometimes – with whom not to share it, were and are fundamental to understanding and to success. And how this information and analysis was expressed and conveyed – the exact words, the precise nuances, the constructive ambiguity, the hidden as well as the op... continue reading