Impact of the Internet ~ Networking and Learning

 

 

Summary

 

"There is a growing understanding of the power of the web.. and networks are starting to discover the different ways that ICT can bring people together.In the NGO community, the web has made possible wider collaborations

between NGOs across the world."

 

Excerpt from The Role of ICT in Preventing, Responding to and Recovering from Conflict, published by the ICT4Peace Foundation.

 

 

Resources

 

International Council of Voluntary Agencies

http://www.icva.ch, a global network of NGOs working on humanitarian relief, human rights, and refugee issues, uses its website to provide members with useful documents and access to policy briefings from the headquarters of relevant agencies such as UNHCR, as well as publishing a regular newsletter that reaches around the world in a way that a printed newsletter could not.

 

 

InterAction

http://www.interaction.org/ict, an alliance of more than 160 NGOs, has gone further and created a headquarters unit specifically to deal with ICT initiatives. This unit reviews access and appropriateness of technology and content for both the NGO and local

communities.

 

 

Global Disaster Information Network (GDIN)

www.gdin.org is a coalition of experts from NGOs, governments, international organizations, industry, academia, and donor organizations. Its objectives are to assist infield disaster managers find information, particularly when other means have failed; to develop unique information sharing procedures that complement extant systems; and to foster the elaboration of technologies for peace as well as professional development.

 

 

Disaster Resource Network (DRN)

http://www.drnglobal.org/home of the World Economic Forum, which seeks to build cooperation between businesses and relief organizations during the emergency response and recovery phases of disasters. The DRN seeks to streamline and increase the delivery of industry resources (engineering, technology, transportation and logistics, insurance and others) to the disaster site. Although in its early stages, the DRN could offer a new way to bring together the private and public sectors using the credibility and resources of the World Economic Forum.

 

 

The Center for Security Studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich

http://www.css.ethz.ch/index_EN provides access to handbooks, studies, working papers, monographs, conference reports and books written from an academic/policy-making orientation. The center is also a focal point for the Swiss International Relations and Security Network http://www.isn.ethz.ch, which links scholars and research institutions at a number of universities that work on international security issues, including conflict prevention and peace operations. The next step is to link these more policy-oriented discussions with field practitioners, to ensure that both sides benefit from each other’s knowledge.

 

 

Active Learning Network for Accountability and Practice (ALNAP)

http://www.alnap.org, based in the UK at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) http://www.odi.org.uk. Knowledge management – of which communities of practice are an important sub-topic – is still not widely regarded in the ICT4Peace community, although organizations and individuals with military backgrounds (such as UN peacekeeping forces) benefit from the military’s focus on lesson learning. ALNAP makes available lessons learned documents drawn from its comprehensive online database of evaluations, as well as hosting discussions forums and meetings that provide a framework for learning in the humanitarian community.

 

 

Aid Workers Network (AWN)

http://www.aidworkers.net, a voluntary collaboration between field-based aid workers to share their knowledge and build a broader community of practice. Launched as a pilot project in 2002, it rapidly grew to 6500 members in 163 countries in mid-

2004, offering moderated online discussion forums covering every aspect of aid work, from fundraising to programme management, from policy to administration. Until mid-2004, a weekly newsletter (Aid Workers Exchange) was also published, featuring articles written by professional aid workers and question-and-answer sections. This was achieved with almost no Some organizations offer online training in various fields, notably conflict mediation and resolution. A few examples would include: the Geneva Humanitarian Forum http://www.genevahumanitarianforum.org which hosts e-dialogues on conflict and peace, including the role of media; and the Network University http://www.euconflict.org/tnu/index2.html and the Geneva-based UN University of Peace Institute for Media, Peace and Security http://www.mediapeace.org both of which offer online courses.

 

 

Humanitarian Practice Network (HPN)

http://www.odihpn.org, making use of a membership-based website and a mailing list facility to reach a far wider audience than would be possible with hard copies of its many publications.

 

 

Ngapartji Ngapartji

http://ninti.ngapartji.org/

 

This online learning site is just one part of what is known as Ngapartji Ngapartji – a long-term, inter-generational language and arts project based on Arrernte country in Mparntwe (Alice Springs, Central Australia). The project, coordinated by the award-winning social change arts company Big hART, is also made up of an experiential language show and a main stage theatre production. Both performance components have traveled to major Australian cities and arts festivals over the last 2 years, and feature elders and young people from the Pitjantjatjara-speaking community who also participate in a grass-roots community development program.

 

 

Peacebuilding Initiative: Sierra Leone

http://www.peacebuildinginitiative.org/

 

The portal is designed to support coordination, consolidation, and prioritization of information. With particular attention to the needs of the UN Peacebuilding Commission and other international agencies, it aims to assist members of governmental and intergovernmental organizations, civil society organizations, and the scholarly community engaged in conflict management and post-conflict peacebuilding.

 

The Peacebuilding Initiative is based on the premise that peacebuilding occurs in complex and politically charged environments dealing with multiple layers of actors and agendas interacting in periods of tense transition. Critical pieces of information, from technical data to institutional knowledge and lessons learned, are scattered. Coupled with an underdeveloped state of communications technology, new bodies such as the UN Peacebuilding Commission are unable to harness the knowledge and experience which enables success. Such situations require coherent and responsive information systems that manage a growing flow of information and analysis on the various dynamics and actors at play. New information management technologies provide opportunities for consistency in research practices, informed action, and connectivity between fragmented and dispersed communities of interests. The result: optimized and informed policy response.

 

 

A Force More Powerful

http://www.aforcemorepowerful.org/game/index.php

 

A Force More Powerful – the Game of Nonviolent Strategy is the first and only interactive teaching tool in the field of nonviolent conflict. Developed by The International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC), media firm York Zimmerman Inc. and game designers at BreakAway Ltd., the game is built on nonviolent strategies and tactics used successfully in conflicts around the world.

Featuring ten scenarios inspired by history, A Force More Powerful simulates nonviolent struggles to win freedom and secure human rights against dictators, occupiers, colonizers, and corrupt regimes, as well as campaigns for political and human rights for minorities and women. The game models real-world experience, allowing players to devise strategies, apply tactics and see the results.

 

 

SpaceDebate

http://www.spacedebate.org/

 

Spacedebate.org is an effort to expand the debate on the weaponization of space through a collaborative wiki-like tool for structured debate on a topic.

 

 

Global Giving

http://www.globalgiving.com/

 

GlobalGiving is an online marketplace that connects you to the causes and countries you care about. You select the projects you want to support, make a tax-deductible contribution, and get regular progress updates - so you can see your impact.