The Egmont Institute hosted a diplomatic seminar discussing the role information communication technologies (ICTs) and data collection tools can play in conflict prevention in Africa by offering new instruments for monitoring, collating, reporting, and forecasting developments on the ground. The three guest speakers – Larissa Fast from the Overseas Development Institute, Ken Matthysen from the International Peace Information Service, and Charles Martin Shields from the German Development Institute – explored some concrete examples of peace-supporting ICT and data collection initiatives, while also reflecting more broadly on the use of technology for peace. In particular, they discussed the challenges in developing and implementing such tools, the opportunities and challenges posed by the use of these tools at the policy level, and reflected on these instruments’ ability to fulfill their potential to support conflict prevention processes.

(Photo credit: Sven Torfinn/Panos Pictures)