Dmitry Epstein http://www.h-network.org/peace/pm.php?op=tag_pm&r=dima Farah Mahmood http://www.h-network.org/peace/pm.php?op=tag_pm&r=farah Lisa Thurston http://www.h-network.org/peace/pm.php?op=tag_pm&r=lisa ‘The Human Network’

This is a unique, youth-led research initiative supported by the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research.

Abstract:
The Human Network PEACE and ICT Research Project is an ongoing, youth-led research initiative supported by the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Studies. It questions the role of information and communication technologies in peace processes focusing on the role of the digital divide as a potential constrain to constructive, grassroots dialogue in conflict situations. This article highlights the conceptual framework of the research, interlinking modern communication technologies with peace building, and presents preliminary findings and observations. The picture emerging at this stage is of digital divide being a highly debatable matter. While there are de-facto practices of utilization of information technologies in peace building processes, particularly by the youth, this aspect of e-inclusion is usually neglected by the official policies, thus marginalizing its potential.

A quote addressed to American president Harry Truman states: “It is understanding that gives us ability to have peace. When we understand the other fellow’s viewpoint and he understands ours, than we can sit down and work our differences.” But what happens when significant portions of population are excluded from the communication process? What is the true role of grassroots communication and how it can contribute to sustainable peace? How does it fit what is labeled as “information revolution”? The scope of raising questions is limitless.

The Human Network PEACE and ICT Research Project is a potentially unique, youth-led research initiative supported by the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Studies. Led by 13 young researchers based in 10 different locations all over the globe it questions the (potential) role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in peace processes. Particularly, it examines the role of the digital divide and policies and practices aimed to bridge it, as potential constrains to, or elements of, a constructive grassroots dialogue in conflict situations. The data is being collected through questionnaires aimed to young people, interviews of policy makers, industry leaders and civil society players, as well as conduction of discussion groups, which bring together the aforementioned participants.

In an effort to answer the questions above, this article will highlight the conceptual framework of the research, interlinking modern communication technologies with peace building, which appears to be a new approach to the issue in hand. It will focus on the research process itself, emphasizing its youth leadership and perspective as well as the online nature of its conducting.

Conceptual framework.
There is a growing body of literature dealing with the roles of children and young people in armed conflicts and the effects of such conflicts on their development (Brett & MacCallin, 1998; Machel, 1996; Wessles, 1998). Young people tend to be shock absorbers of social change and are profoundly effected by various forms of violence – direct, cultural and structural (Galtung, 1969). The “PEACE and ICT” research acknowledges that young people represent the major percentage of victims in conflict conditions and at the same time are also placed at the forefront of today’s information revolution. Hence, the conceptual framework of the research is based on two main theoretical foundations. The first is derived from the research done on the role of communication in peace building processes, emphasizing the role of new communication possibilities provided by modern ICTs. The second foundation is the study of the digital divide phenomenon with particular focus on youth.

New ICTs in peace discourse.
Peace scholarship has a record of intensive debate and analysis of definitions of peace and conflict. These definitions range from global and technical ones to ultimately individual-focused and fairly sophisticated (Rappaport, 1989; Lederach, 1995; Shinar 2003). For the purpose of this study an applicable perspective would be the one proposed by Galtung (1969). Based on Wright’s definition of peace as a dynamic balance involving, political, social cultural and technological factors (Wright, 1941), Galtung suggests using the categories ‘negative peace’ and ‘positive peace’. The ‘negative peace’ is the absence of war while the ‘positive peace’ is the absence of “structural violence”. Thus a negative peace exists if citizens suffer from malnutrition when there is sufficient food for their survival somewhere in the world, or they die of sickness when medical aid is available to restore them.

Applying the definition above positive peace is dependent on development and development is in turn dependent on peace and stability (Rosenau, 1998). Thus, effective communication, access and utilization of information, are key factors for sustainable processes, particularly those involved with maintaining peace and global development (Drake, 2004). Building on a complex and holistic view of peace and conflict resolution as a cultural journey based on inclusion and effective dialogue (Kevin, 1998; Kevin, et.al, 1998), this research enquires into the advantages and disadvantages of new communication technologies as tools for nurturing appropriate conditions for sustainable peace.

Due to its global reach and relative lack of control, the Internet is used extensively as a propaganda tool and for the coordination of activities by radical groups. As such, the Internet and other new ICTs are sometimes viewed as vehicle used for extending conflict, hatred and even war (Ronfeldt & Arquilla, 2001). At the same time, the same features of the Internet can and are used by a significant subset of civil society for promotion of values and activities so badly needed for establishment of peace (Johnson & Post, 1998; Epstein & Ashkenazi, 2004). Moreover, the Internet is a communication medium both at the personal and mass-audience levels. As such, new communication technologies offer much greater potential for promoting tolerance and peace if they are developed, implemented and utilized according to appropriate values (SchWeber, 1995; Schirato & Yell, 2000). A key factor in bringing about an environment conducive to a just peace, according to Rees (2003) is that there is inclusiveness in practically every aspect of life. By contrast, exclusion will likely lead to a breakdown in the process towards peace – because it lacks justice. In this research, we focus on an aspect of our life that continues to exclude a bulk of international society: ICTs.

Digital Divide.
In an age where new technologies appear to be immensely helpful in a range of areas, this does not apply to everyone. In fact, it does not apply to the majority of the world’s population. For example, according to World Development Indicators 2005, Asia forms 56.4% of world’s population, accounting for only 34.2% of total number of world’s Internet users. This is compared to North America, which forms 5.1% of world’s population, but hosts 23.8% of world’s total Internet users. Another example is in South Asia, where there are 6.8 personal computers per thousand people with only ten Internet users out of one thousand, compared to Europe where there are 317.2 computers available for every thousand people, out of which 378 are Internet users (in general OECD countries account for 79% of world’s Internet users). Distribution of accessibility to the Internet within the nation, however, is a separate issue with obvious disparities between the cultural and racial groupings.

Traditionally being addressed as lack of access, as is described above; the digital divide has broader implications. Inherent in the concept of ICTs being ‘inaccessible’ is that even when modern devices and advanced technical infrastructure are present in a given location, misunderstanding, lack of knowledge, lack of expertise, and lack of tuition render these ICTs ‘effectively inaccessible’. This applies to a wide range of people in any given community, but particularly in developing, and lower socio-economic demographic sections (Warschauer, 2002). According to UNESCO Institute for Statistics the average gap between the developing and developed countries in adult literacy was 22.3% in 2000-2004. Among others, South and West Asia had 58.6% literacy rate, while Europe for example had 97.4%. The digital divide can be also seen as a subset of the growing social gaps between the empowered and the disempowered. On a global level we can see that the least developed countries achieve score of 0.518 in UNDP human development index while high income OECD countries reach 0.911 (the maximum value is 1).

One can clearly outline a correlation between the social development of a region or a country and its ability to adopt and effectively utilize communication technology (Warschauer, 2002). This leads us to question how these gaps can be better understood and how we might bridge them to provide an environment conducive to peace with justice.

The youth perspective.
The question is particularly relevant if the discussion is focused on youth. In average the youth are more literate and are more open to adopt new technological innovations. Feeling disenfranchised from socio-political processes, the young people tend to associate with grassroots activities and non-governmental organizations. In this aspect the new communication technologies play a significant role allowing enhanced participation (Lombardo, et.al., 2002). In Israel for example high-school students have organized a nation-wide strike at the beginning of 2005 in protest of planned reforms in the education system. The activity was organized using SMS and Internet thus emphasizing once again the features of ICTs, which allow grassroots activism. In turn, this grassroots nature of activism leads towards emergence of new patterns of leadership based on personal qualities and level of personal activism, rather than on external social factor (Cassell, et.al., 2005a, Cassell, et.al., 2005b), though those should not be neglected from discussion.

Shifting from a more general civil activism of youth via new ICTs to peace building processes we find further support in our preliminary findings. In a series of discussion groups conducted in Peshawar, Pakistan, university students showed an awareness and concern regarding the digital divide. However, at the same time, the idea of utilization of ICTs for creating a dialogue towards peace remained an alien concept. This observation hints on lack of realization of the full potential of ICTs beyond being a cheaper communication and knowledge source. Although the policies seem to reflect on the importance of ICT education, they are narrowly focused on personal capacity building. However, when the possible relationship between e-inclusion and peace was presented, the young people brainstormed a plethora of potential grassroots initiatives initiating a dialogue for peace. Suggested ideas emphasized the importance of digital inclusion for enhanced discourse featuring better person-to-person understanding, as being discussed in literature on the second track diplomacy (Aall, 1996; Smock, 1997; Stone & Nesadurai, 1999).

The idea of ICT for peace being an alien concept seems to cross cultures. Thus, the Israeli case shows that the policy makers tend to hold a double standard towards digital divide. They agree on the importance of the issue and need for an adequate action to bridge the divide. However on a practical level the process is viewed solely as an economic capacity building track, thus neglecting the human and developmental aspects of e-inclusion, not to mention a ‘naive’ idea of ICTs potential for peace processes. Interestingly enough the civil society organization focused on peace are de-facto utilizing information technology to initiate a first hand interaction between the conflict parties. Most of these projects are youth focused or youth led. However, NGOs focused on bridging the digital divide, remain in a narrow instrumentalist view of technology, not referring to broader repercussions.

Similar trends are evident in other regions covered by the research. Young people put hope in the information technologies as tools for personal and societal development. Moreover, there are cases where ICTs are being utilized for grassroots intercultural communication, including in conflict situations, even though the participants are not explicitly aware of the potential contribution of their activities towards peace.

The picture emerging at this stage is of digital divide being a highly debatable matter. As an issue, it is being utilized by politicians and as a phenomenon addressed by the society organizations. The latter present a unique and innovative approach to possibilities offered by the new medium. In the context of peace and dialogue, NGOs present a hands-on agenda of uses the platform for grassroots activities. However, this potential is not reflected in official policies and social, particularly, peace-related, repercussions of e-inclusion are usually neglected.

A note on process.
During the course of our research, the research team has been able to bring the concept of ‘digital inclusion for peace’ into the lime light, not only raising awareness but also motivating youth to think about the critical question - ‘how?’ .A wide range of ideas both from young people as well as policy experts point towards ICT for dialogue, an idea which already is already practiced through personal blogs, websites and online groups where the discussions get no official recognition. The PEACE and ICT research is an effort towards developing a realization towards these still small but significant processes towards building peace.

Research into online human interaction is subject to scrutiny and skepticism due to its highly subjective and non-quantifiable nature, and yet it has allowed communication at invaluable efficiency and productivity level. On a normative level, the latter fact justifies further studies of online communication for peace.

The Human Network PEACE and ICT Research Project is by itself a case study of highly effective virtual communication between 13 young researchers, working from ten geographically, culturally and economically diverse environments. Efficient online interaction offered informality, voluntary-ness, lack of hierarchical structure and 24 hours immediate accessibility thus further broadening the intercultural understanding.

Next step.
During the research, the PEACE and ICT team has grown by including new members and is looking forward to join the next phase of Toda Institute’s grants focusing on global governance, human development and regional conflicts. The next phase combines themes of culture, environment, gender and social equality, sustainable development, technology diffusion and transfer with views and perceptions of younger generation. Viewing new information and communication technologies as an essential communication platform for current era, the project will enquire into the broader role of ICT in developmental processes such as education, industry, social services while seeking to identify application of ICTs to global governance and inter-regional conflict resolution.

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