Science, Technology and Peacebuilding
part of the Centers of Innovation
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Center Highlights
Special Report: Science Diplomacy for Nuclear Security
On January 19, 2011, the National Academy of Sciences Committee on International Security and Arms Control, with cooperation and financial support from the United States Institute of Peace, held a symposium titled “From Reykjavik to New START: Science Diplomacy for Nuclear Security in the 21st Century.” This report summarizes the main ideas offered during the symposium.
Event: Sifting Fact from Fiction: The Role of Social Media in Conflict 
On September 16th, 2011, this Blogs & Bullets meeting brought together the companies and experts who sift through social media data with activists that create it and policy-makers who use it. The event looked at the cutting-edge of research technologies and predictive analytics in an effort to expand our ability to harness these new platforms for conflict management and peacebuilding.
Event: From Crisis to Community: Mapping as a Peacebuilding Tool 
There has been a surge of enthusiasm and activity around crisis mapping recently, thanks to high profile success stories such as Haiti, Afghanistan, Libya, Egypt, and Kenya. But, as the field matures, how do we turn this information into insight that engages and empowers local communities in conflict prevention and peacebuilding? USIP and Ushahidi, the crisis mapping pioneer, explored these questions with mappers from conflict zone countries and policymakers in Washington, D.C. as part of the Institute's Universities for Ushahidi training course.
PeaceWatch Winter 2011: Media, Technology & Conflict 
Published several times per year, USIP’s PeaceWatch newsletter features stories and photos covering Institute events, accomplishments, news, and announcements of note. This issue of PeaceWatch highlights the Institute’s work in media, technology and conflict resolution efforts around the world.
Featured Publications & Tools
In this report from the United States Institute of Peace’s Centers of Innovation for Science, Technology, and Peacebuilding, and Media, Conflict, and Peacebuilding, a team of scholars from The George Washington University, in cooperation with scholars from Harvard University and Morningside Analytics, critically assesses both the “cyberutopian” and “cyberskeptic” perspectives on the impact of new media on political movements.
Part of the Blogs and Bullets series of publications from the Center of Innovation for Science, Technology, and Peacebuilding, this special report follows an earlier study by
the authors—“Blogs and Bullets: New Media in Contentious Politics” (Peaceworks No. 65)—and is informed by the proceedings from a conference on the same topic held at USIP on July 8, 2010.This report was commissioned by the United States Institute of Peace’s Center of Innovation for Science, Technology, and Peacebuilding and Haiti Working Group. It examines the role of Ushahidi, a crisis-mapping platform, in the disaster relief effort following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
Center Experts
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Director, Center of Innovation: Media, Conflict, and Peacebuilding / Director, Center of Innovation: Science, Technology and Peacebuilding.
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Senior Program Officer, Center for Science, Technology and Peacebuilding and Center for Media, Conflict and Peacebuilding
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Using input from people around the world, this Center of Innovation identifies promising new practices, conducts research and develops innovative strategies for applying science and technology to the challenge of peacebuilding in fragile states, active conflict and post-conflict societies.
Initiatives
Roundtable on Science, Technology, and Peacebuilding: A New Forum for Innovation in Preventing and Managing Conflict
The Center of Innovation for Science, Technology and Peacebuilding partnered with the National Academies of Science and of Engineering to launch a major, multi-year roundtable. It will focus on the development and application of technology and knowledge, and on methods from engineering and science in the service of conflict prevention, peacemaking, and peacekeeping.
Blogs & Bullets: Understanding Online Discourse as a Cause of Conflict and Means of Dialogue
Through this initiative, the Center explores ways to utilize quantitative and analytical tools to map online discourse and content in USIP’s priority conflict areas.
Smart Tools for Smart Power: Applying Technology Innovation to the Needs of Peacebuilding
This initiative brings together peacebuilding practitioners and technology innovators to identify high-impact opportunities for technology to bolster peacebuilding and stability operations.
Universities for Ushahidi
The U4U training program brings young people from conflict zones around the world to train them in the use of crowdsourced mapping tools like Ushahidi as well as in the skills of conflict management, helping them address community needs in-country, train others, and join a growing community of global crisis mappers and technology-enabled peacebuilders.
Science Diplomacy for Conflict Prevention: Global Evaluation of Scientific and Engineering Collaborations for Peacebuilding
The Center of Innovation for Science, Technology, and Peacebuilding is evaluating select scientific and technical collaborations between countries to identify the active ingredients that makes them channels of peacebuilding.