Monday, January 9, 2017

A High Bar for PeaceTech in 2017

PeaceTech Lab works for individuals and communities affected by conflict, using technology, media, and data to accelerate local peacebuilding efforts.

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#PeaceTechYearInReview

WATCH | PeaceTech Exchange: Kabul | #PTXKabul

Dear Friends and Supporters,

2016 started with a vision: to inspire a new industry of peacetech entrepreneurs by bringing together engineers and activists, conflict experts and MBAs, social scientists and data scientists to develop new solutions to counter the drivers of violent conflict.

You helped us push the envelope of "what's possible" to #scalepeacetech.

We saw partnerships grow from promise to progress as we helped to establish the nation's first M.S. degree in Peace Engineering and welcomed co-op students from Drexel University. We expanded our world reach with the addition of MIT's International Science and Tech Initiative, and media partners ChannelsTV of Nigeria, HUM Networks of Pakistan, and RNW Media of The Netherlands. Our commitment to infusing the peacebuilding field with new tools and new players reached new heights with the launch of the PeaceTech Scalerator, sponsored by C5 Capital and Amazon Web Services.

These partnerships are crucial for continuing work that changes lives. Nowhere is that more clear than in places like South Sudan, where the Lab's popular Sawa Shabab radio drama and hate speech research are providing a platform for youth voices and helping peacebuilders like Francis prevent violence while promoting healing in their communities.

12 months. 365 days. Thousands of lives touched through peacetech.

And it's only Year 2.

The bar is set high for 2017. Let's reach it together.

From All of Us,

PeaceTech Lab

P.S. Keep up with the latest PeaceTech news by subscribing to our Weekly Roundup!

In January, the Lab held its Voices from the Field Twitter Chat, with #scalepeacetech trending as the second most-used hashtag in DC. February was an exciting month as we hosted the PeaceTech Summit and launched the Open Situation Room Exchange (OSRx). Then, March saw the announcement of our partnership with ChannelsTV to develop Nigeria's first Hausa-language news program. Sheldon Himelfarb was featured in Worth Magazine's April edition, while May had Sheldon speaking on "Disrupting War: Designing a New PeaceTech Industry" at the World Summit on Innovation & Entrepreneurship. June was marked by #PTXKarachi, our third of four PeaceTech Exchanges conducted in Pakistan, where we have awarded $25K in micro-grants. In July, Tim Receveur spoke to SciDevNet on how Simple Tools Offer Path Out of Conflict, and in August Theo Dolan trained Ethiopian Journalists on the media's role in good governance. We welcomed John Momoh as our first International Board Member in September, and released Blogs and Bullets: How Social Media Undermines Transitions to Democracy in October. November kicked off our Deep Dive Series, co-hosted with partners RNW Media. Finally, December was our biggest month yet, with the release of our Lexicon and OSRx data portal for countering hate speech in South Sudan, and the launch of the PeaceTech Scalerator with partners C5 Capital and Amazon Web Services.