The PeaceTech Camp (PTXIraq), organized by the Sanad Foundation for Peacebuilding in Iraq, was concluded in Basra on Friday with the participation of more than 30 civil society organizations and five days of activity at the Basra International Hotel Hall.
Read MoreDivisions between the people on either side of the Sudan-South Sudan border run deep. South Sudan’s declaration of independence in 2011 has yet to end the decades-long conflict between Misseriya Muslims and Dinka Christians.
Read MoreWhen the forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, commonly known as ISIS, rolled into Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, in June 2014, the Iraqi soldiers garrisoned there dropped their guns, discarded their uniforms and fled. ISIS warriors seized abandoned weapons, including reportedly six American-supplied Black Hawk Helicopters, and piles of cash stored in banks.
Read MoreUsing the power of technology, media and data analysis to prevent tensions and conflicts in some of the world’s most violent areas from escalating: That’s the mission of PeaceTech Lab.
Read MoreThree Iraqi technologists who founded the first makerspace in Basra, Iraq visited MIT on Monday and Tuesday to meet with various labs and student groups as part of a tour hosted by the Media Lab and the Undergraduate Association Innovation Committee.
Read MoreCan technology drive positive change in conflict areas? The founders of PeaceTech Lab, an organization created by the U.S. Institute of Peace and spun off as a separate entity earlier this year, certainly think so. This weekend they're at Maker Faire in NYC celebrating the achievements of an Iraqi man who embodies that ethos.
Read MorePeaceTech lab started as part of the Unites States Institute for Peace but became a separate nonprofit last year, to expand the organization to include the private sector.
Read MoreMany 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.
Read MoreBasra is just one of the places where the Washington, D.C.-based, government-funded United States Institute of Peace is hosting workshops, called PeaceTech Exchanges, through its PeaceTech Lab. The exchanges are intended to connect community peace builders in conflict zones -- activists, civic leaders and even government officials -- with accessible tech platforms and like-minded partners who can help them transform their ideas into reality.
Read MorePeacetech projects often tackle the typical drivers of conflict: inter-ethnic and inter-religious tensions, gender violence, and land disputes. "Most conflict today is about these local drivers," says Himelfarb. It's a matter of minority rights, corruption, authoritarian regimes. It's (addressing) these drivers which allow you to have a lasting peace and not lapse back into violence again."
Read MoreSheldon Himelfarb speaks with BBC Worldservice on PeaceTech Lab's work in Iraq starting at around 12:30.
Read MoreThe Kurdish Constitution will soon be open for public crowdsourcing.
Three Kurdish civil society organizations (The Alliance of Iraqi Minorities, the Kurdish Instutute for Elections and the Brave Youth Organization) will be engaging Kurdish citizens on the constitutional drafting process starting from July 2015 using Legislation Lab.
Read MoreOn February 1-2, the US Institute of Peace will be hosting an event called the PeaceTech Camp in Iraq. PeaceTech Camps are two day, interactive conferences through which we pair local and international leaders in the technology community with local and regional civil society organizations to provide training, resources and assistance that enable participants to harness low cost, easy to implement technologies to build their capacity and better meet their mission.
Read MoreThe U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) has conducted the first in a series of “PeaceTech Camps” in Iraq, an initiative that connects technologists who are skilled at low-cost, easy-to-use technologies with civil society organizations that work on a range of problems within Iraq.
Read MoreWith 151 killings of journalists since 1992, including 93 unresolved murders, Iraq remains one of the most dangerous places to work in news. To track attacks on journalists in the country,Ibrahim Alsragey, an Iraqi reporter who directs the Baghdad-based Journalists Rights Defense Association, recently launched an online map. The map allows people who witness an attack to report it on the site and highlight its location.
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