Peace mediation in the surf of digitalization <br/>– CMI reacting to the trend with a peacetech manager

CMI’s Antero Karvonen and Edward Marques. Photo: Hanna Partanen

One cannot talk about peace technology in Finland without involving the well-known conflict mediation organisation, Crisis Management Initiative, CMI. Therefore, on a beautiful summer morning we took a virtual meeting with the organisation’s senior manager of policy and innovation, Dr. *Edward Marques**, and communications officer* Antero Karvonen.

Digitalization is changing the world and the work of peace mediation community. It is supplying us with tools and moulding the ways conflict transformation processes are conducted.

Today the peace-building community is working on defining what is peace technology and how it is part of the general trend of digitalisation. One can ask, for example, whether social media is part of peacetech when it is used as a tool for peace negotiations.

– Digitalization is happening regardless of our definitions of peacetech and regardless of our conceptualization. It is happening organically, notes Karvonen.

How peacetech should be separated from the general trend of digitalization is a question that is still to be discussed.

– I hope the term will be further and better defined in the field. I hope we can find a role in that definition, continues Marques.

“Digitalization is happening regardless of our definitions of peacetech ”

While the discussion about specification continues, CMI along with other peace mediation organisations is finding its ways in the digitalised world. It is already commonly acknowledged that technological solutions are helping the mediation work.

Some of Marques’ examples of this are safe spaces for virtual dialogue as well as inclusion and analysis that could be provided with technological innovations. For instance, telecommunication tools are already enhancing the abilitiy of non-state actors to participate in conflict transformation processes.

– People from different backgrounds have the possibility to join, and with peacetech one can amplify the frequency, the level and the type of people who are attending sessions. For example, social media enables to get a meeting with 5000 people in a room, so to speak, which would not be possible in live meetings.

While peacetech has many benefits, you also need to take precautions.

It is important to be specific what type of technology is used and what it is used for. One also needs to be precise with transparency – the people involved in the process need to know how they are part of it.

Finally, the mediators must make sure that the platforms used are not monitored by third parties.

– The consent of the participants when using technology is essential and it is equally important that the solutions are applicable, responsibly used and that they enhance trust between the conflict parties and the mediator, says Marques.

With technology, mediators can, for example, reach many people or go through a lot of data, but it cannot replace human thinking such as expert political analysis or ethical considerations.

– Those contributions need to come from an expert in those fields, notes Karvonen.

Overall, peacetech seems to pose a cross-disciplinary challenge, requiring many types of expertise to come together.

Mainstreaming digitalization in peace work is a joint effort

There’s still a lot of work ahead of us to develop the peacetech industry. It’s important to understand where peace work has been and where it’s going, and how it is related to the development of digitalization.

In CMI’s work, Marques divides the future steps into three phases:

– Right now the immediate focus is simply to get technological tools to allow mediators to continue their work regardless of movement restrictions. As we move forward we need to develop best practices based on strong empirical evidence, and finally we need to understand and contribute to how the broader trend of digitalization impacts the field of mediation as a whole.

In order to take peacetech development in the organisation to the next level, in September CMI is hiring a senior project manager for peacetech, Jonathan Harlander.

Well-defined peacetech management helps to structure and strengthen the whole industry, and this could help to combine the resources and knowledge of both private and public sectors. Thus, in an ideal ecosystem experts from different fields could work together for the common goal.

– There is a strong role that commercial companies play in dominating the field, creating tools that we could have access to and benefit from, so there is a clear moment for hybrid public-private partnership support, argues Marques.

Basically, peace-making community could bring certain problems to the table which would be then addressed together with funders, solvers, companies, academia, and other actors.

– Bring these together to solve problems, says Karvonen, and continues by pointing out that when problems are brought to the shared table, it is easier for companies to get involved and contribute to the field.

At CMI, the new peacetech manager will also further widen the network of the organisation. Previously Jonathan Harlander has been working at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, and he is also a founding member of the CyberMediation Network. He has been developing a Toolkit on digital technologies and mediation with the UN’s Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. His experience and network will boost CMI’s thrive to use technology to support mediation work.

““In an ideal ecosystem, experts from different fields could work together for the common goal.””

All in all, the close relationship between technology development, professionals in that field, and experts on peace mediation is needed.

– Peacetech is still an emerging industry that requires a lot more attention and resources. Our efforts within this should be in terms of supporting smart and strategic cooperation between companies, academia, practitioners, and especially innovators, concludes Marques.

Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) is an independent Finnish peace mediation organization, that was founded by Nobel Peace laureate, president Martti Ahtisaari in 2000. It is one of the leading organizations in peace mediation and working around the globe. Dr Edward Marques has been working in the field of mediation and dialogue for several years, particularly in the Middle East, and prior to that, in the field of peacetech as it relates to relationships with companies, universities, and practices. Antero Karvonen has background in digital communications and cognitive science. He has been working at CMI for almost a decade and now he is starting a PhD position in University of Jyväskylä focusing on artificial intelligence.

Peace Invaders is a Finnish NGO working to harness the power of technology and media for conflict transformation.

We want peace. We mean business.

Peace mediation in the surf of digitalization – CMI reacting to the trend with long-term planning and a new peacetech manager

Mainstreaming digitalization in peace work is a joint effort

Peace Invaders blogging crew