ICT4peace is a policy and

capacity-building Capacity building (or capacity development, capacity strengthening) is the improvement in an individual's or organization's facility (or capability) "to produce, perform or deploy". The terms capacity building and capacity development have often ...

oriented international foundation. The purpose is to save lives and protect

human dignity Dignity is a human's contentment attained by satisfying physiological needs and a need in development. The content of contemporary dignity is derived in the new natural law theory as a distinct human good. As an extension of the Age of Enlighten ...

through

Information and Communication Technology Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computer ...

(ICT). The Foundation promotes

cybersecurity Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is a subdiscipline within the field of information security. It consists of the protection of computer software, systems and networks from thr ...

and a peaceful

cyberspace Cyberspace is an interconnected digital environment. It is a type of virtual world popularized with the rise of the Internet. The term entered popular culture from science fiction and the arts but is now used by technology strategists, security ...

through international

negotiations Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more parties to resolve points of difference, gain an advantage for an individual or Collective bargaining, collective, or craft outcomes to satisfy various interests. The parties aspire to agree on m ...

with

governments A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a m ...

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether natural, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specifi ...

and

non-state actors A non-state actor (NSA) is an individual or organization that has significant political influence but is not allied to any particular country or state. The interests, structure, and influence of NSAs vary widely. For example, among NSAs are non-pr ...

. It also explores and champions the use ICTs to facilitate

communication Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

between

peoples The term "the people" refers to the public or common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. In contrast, a ...

communities A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place (geography), place, set of Norm (social), norms, culture, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Ide ...

and stakeholders involved in

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an ideology centered on the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotiona ...

or conflict-related

crisis management Crisis management is the process by which an organization deals with a disruptive and unexpected event that threatens to harm the organization or its stakeholders. The study of crisis management originated with large-scale industrial and envi ...

and

crisis mapping Crisis mapping (also known as disaster mapping) is the real-time gathering, display and analysis of data during a crisis, usually a natural disaster or social/political conflict (violence, elections, etc.). Crisis mapping projects usually allow ...

humanitarian assistance Humanitarian assistance is aid and action designed to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity during and after man-made crises and disasters. It encompasses a wide range of activities, including providing food, water, shelter, ...

and

peacebuilding Peacebuilding is an activity that aims to resolve injustice in nonviolent ways and to transform the cultural and structural conditions that generate deadly or destructive conflict. It revolves around developing constructive personal, group, and ...

. It is registered as ICT for Peace in the Geneva business directory. ICT4peace is supported by

and

philanthropic foundations A foundation (also referred to as a charitable foundation) is a type of nonprofit organization or charitable trust that usually provides funding and support to other charitable organizations through grants, while also potentially participating d ...

and proposes

analysis Analysis (: analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (38 ...

and

counselling Counseling is the professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes. This is a list of c ...

services as well as capacity-building programs. It works closely with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

(UN) in strengthening the organisation’s capacities to map, share and use data across its various agencies and locations and by contributing to the creation of best practices in Crisis Information Management across the organisation. ICT4peace intervened for instance in the project ''"Strengthening Crisis Information and Management at the United Nations"'', described in the

UN Secretary general The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

report of 5 October 2010 on ICTs in the United Nations (A/65/491). The way

early warning systems An early warning system is a warning system that can be implemented as a chain of information communication systems and comprises sensors, event detection and decision subsystems for early identification of hazards. They work together to forec ...

help reduce the human cost of

earthquakes An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they c ...

, ICT-based platform can help save lives during

natural Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part ...

man-made disasters A disaster is an event that causes serious harm to people, buildings, economies, or the environment, and the affected community cannot handle it alone. ''Natural disasters'' like avalanches, floods, earthquakes, and wildfires are caused by natur ...

, said ICT4peace founder, Daniel Stauffacher, former

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

and

Special Representative Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seating ...

of the

Swiss Government The Federal Council is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west ...

for the first phase of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS 1), which took place in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

in 2003. ICT4peace also called for international norms of responsible state behaviour and

disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing Weapon, weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, ...

for a peaceful cyberspace.

Origin

Although the idea of considering the use of ICTs in promoting

peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...

was mentioned in the lead-up to WSIS 1, in particular by

Maurice Strong Maurice Frederick Strong, (April 29, 1929 – November 27, 2015) was a Canadian oil and mineral businessman and a diplomat who served as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.E Masood (2015) Maurice Strong, Nature 528(7583), 480. Strong ...

, senior advisor to United Nations Secretary General

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

, the topic was left out from WSIS 1. In the run-off to the WSIS 2nd phase (WSIS 2), that took place in November 2005 in

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

, the UN published the document ''"Information and Communication Technology for Peace, the role of ICT in Preventing, Responding to and Recovering from conflict"''. This document presented the ICT4peace project, that began in 2004 and formed part of Switzerland’s contribution to WSIS 2. The project aim was to explore and map the possible uses of ICTs in the field of prevention of conflicts, peace building and post conflict reconstruction. Crisis situations such as natural disaster were also considered for their similarities with conflicts situations. Subsequently WSIS 2 in The Tunis Commitment for the Information Society adopted para 36 and valued ''"the potential of ICTs to promote peace and to prevent conflict which, inter alia, negatively affects achieving development goals. ICTs can be used for identifying conflict situations through early-warning systems preventing conflicts, promoting their peaceful resolution, supporting humanitarian action, including

protection of civilians Human rights are universally recognized moral principles or norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both national and international laws. These rights are considered inherent and inalienable, meaning the ...

armed conflicts War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organize ...

, facilitating

peacekeeping Peacekeeping comprises activities, especially military ones, intended to create conditions that favor lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed w ...

missions, and assisting post conflict peace-building and reconstruction"''.

Collaboration with the United Nations

In October 2006, under the Communities of Expertise (CoE) established within the framework of the Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development (also known as Global Alliance for ICT and Development or GAID), the ICT4peace Foundation was invited to a partnership with the

UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs The United Nations (UN) is the global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and security, to develop friendly relations among sta ...

(DESA) and GAID. The Foundation’s role is that of a focal point for overseeing and promoting the spirit of Paragraph 36 of the WSIS Tunis Commitment. The Foundation also participates as a co-host and

facilitator A facilitator is a person who helps a Social group, group of people to work together better, understand their common objectives, and plan how to achieve these objectives, during meetings or discussions. In doing so, the facilitator remains "neut ...

in the annual Meeting of the UN Crisis Information Management Advisory Group (CiMAG), which is reviewing and supporting progress of the UN Crisis Information Management Strategy (CiMS). The CiMS aims at helping all actors, including the UN’s

member states A member state is a state that is a member of an international organization or of a federation or confederation. Since the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) include some members that are not sovereign states ...

and agencies, in dealing with all stages of a crisis lifecycle more efficiently and effectively. ICT4peace also supports and intervenes in both in the annual Crisis Mappers Conference and BuildPeace Conference. A full list of ICT4peace

publications To publish is to make Content (media), content available to the general public.Berne Conv ...

is available on the website of the ETH Zurich International Security Network.

References

External links

Official website ict4peace.org
{{authority control Information and communication technologies for development United Nations organizations based in Geneva Foundations based in Switzerland Peacekeeping Cyberspace