Month: November 2015

Spotlight on Peacebuilding: TechChange

November 9, 2015 Shelby Bice Leave a comment Human Rights

Collaboration and technology are both key to successful peacebuilding. TechChange effectively incorporates both into the classes they offer. Their classes range from Introduction to Excel for Data Visualization to Mapping for Social Good and Basics of Digital Safety. Their learning platform, which all of their courses utilize, also encourages learning from other students by including live group discussions and chats with experts as part of their courses. Additionally, the average course features students from multiple countries around the world, ensuring that the discussions have a global perspective. For those who wish to share their expertise, TechChange also allows individuals to create their own course using their platform. Or, if the class you want is not among the twenty-four courses currently available, TechChange will accept suggestions for future courses. If you aren’t ready to commit to taking a course, their blog offers advice on peacebuilding, utilizing technology, and expanding peacebuilding efforts into global endeavors.

TechChange also recognizes the importance of monitoring professional growth and development. Students can choose to take multiple classes and work towards a diploma, which recognizes that they have taken several classes on using technology to understand and present data. Students working toward a diploma also get to attend workshops and TechChange’s annual conference to further enhance their skills.

To learn more about TechChange and everything they offer, visit their website.

Photo: Peace via Steve Rotman [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

International cyberwar policy to be updated

November 9, 2015 Abby Shulman Leave a comment Citizen Justice, Cybercrime, Human Rights

International law experts are on track to publish a manual amending the current Geneva convention for cyberwar in late 2016. The Tallin Manual 2.0 – an update of the original Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare—is backed by a NATO-run military think tank based in Estonia.

Military strategists deem cyberspace the fifth dimension of warfare, the others being land, air, sea and space. An example of an “armed attack” in cyberspace is the Stuxnet worm, an Israeli-U.S. programmed computer virus that caused severe disruptions to Iran’s nuclear plants. By the original manual, similar attacks in the future would legally validate proportional retaliation, considered in this case to be self-defense.

The Tallinn Manual 2.0 will discuss peacetime international law, including human rights law in regards to cyberspace. The current question begin argued is whether international human rights norms apply to different widely practiced cyber activities, such as the collection of metadata by national governments.

“If the answer is yes, we then have to examine whether the state has actually violated the individual’s rights. For instance, assuming the collection of metadata implicates human rights norms, under what circumstances is a state authorized to engage in such activities?” asks Liis Vihul, managing editor of the Tallinn Manual and legal researcher at the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.

Additionally, the updated manual will include sections on diplomatic law, the responsibilities of international organizations, global telecommunications law, and peace operations.

Article via The Register, October 12, 2015

Photo: Satsop Nuclear Plant via Michael B. [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

Bloomerg hosts Big Law diversity conferences

November 7, 2015 Abby Shulman Leave a comment In the Law, Legal News

Bloomberg Bureau of National Affairs (Bloomberg BNA) hosted Big Law Business Diversity and Inclusion Conferences in New York City and San Francisco throughout the past two weeks. The events helped facilitate the collaboration of some of the most prominent in-house and law firm leaders, in addition to human resource specialists, to create solutions to diversity problems in law firms and corporate legal groups.

The Chief Legal Officers of around 500 major corporations signed a pledge in 1999 to improve the diversity of their teams. Sixteen years later, only minimal progress has been made. Though one third of the U.S. population and one fifth of law school graduates belong to a minority group, less than 7 percent of law firm partners and 9 percent of general counsels of large corporations are black, Latino, Asian American, or Native American.

As Bloomberg BNA states below one of its released videos from the conference, “It is common knowledge that the legal community remains one of the least diverse.” Though law firms have made some improvements in thinking about diversity during the hiring process, “[r]etaining and developing those individuals and leveraging the diverse perspectives they convey is where the true challenge lies.”

Bloomberg BNA has posted videos from the conference, one of the most popular being “Inclusion Strategies: Retain and Promote” for those who could not attend the events.

Article via Above the Law, November 6, 2015

Photo: Scania Executive Board 2010 via Scania Group [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

New bill protecting companies from cyberattacks compromises individual privacy

November 5, 2015 Abby Shulman Leave a comment Citizen Justice, Cybercrime, Government, Privacy, Security

The US Senate voted this past Tuesday to pass the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA), which allows companies to share evidence of cyberattacks with the US government, even if that data includes the personal information of individuals.

Those in favor of the bill argue that CISA will help the government protect companies. Most big tech companies comprise the opposition, and say that the new act is another loophole that allows the US government to snoop on citizens. President Obama supports CISA.

Al Franken, a senator from Minnesota and one of 21 who voted against the bill, said in a statement following CISA’s passing, “There is a pressing need for meaningful, effective cybersecurity legislation that balances privacy and security. This bill doesn’t do that.”

Companies are supposed to remove personal information about customers—such as emails and text messages—before sending data to the government. Currently, however, no accountability system exists to ensure that personal identifiers are in fact deleted before reaching government databases.

CISA was most likely passed in response to recent high-profile hackings, such as those committed against Sony Pictures, Ashley Madison, and United Airlines.

“With security breaches like T-Mobile, Target, and [the US government’s Office of Personnel Management] becoming the norm, Congress knows it needs to do something about cybersecurity,” said Mark Jaycox, Legislative Analyst of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “It chose to do the wrong thing.”

Article via CNET, October 27, 2015

Photo: The Capitol, in Washington, D.C. US Senate and The House of Representatives via DeusXFlorida [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

Chayn and their efforts for world peace

November 4, 2015 Joyce Varghese Leave a comment Hackathon

Hera Hussain is the founder of Chayn: an advocacy group that leverages technology to empower women against violence and oppression so they can live much better lives. One of the main themes of this group is to use the power of technology to help people most overlooked by society. Hussain says it is usually women, especially women of color that are affected. One of their projects included a hackathon to create solutions to end sexual violence in high conflict zones. Another was an online toolkit for domestic abuse survivors to build their own legal case.

A particular hackathon held more than a month ago called #PeaceHackBEY helped to resolve the issue of integrating women into the picture of solving societal challenges. In partnership with the global NGO International Alert, Chayn brought together a variety of technologists, activists, thinkers, and engaged citizens aiming to create solutions to some of the major social problems facing Lebanon today.  Before, there were two extremes in civil society: events that focus solely on women and the latter dominated by men. In events leading up to the Hackathon, anti-government protests swept the city over issues like public services and the lack of resources and support for the Syrian refugees that entered Lebanon to escape turmoil.

“Civic tech is a term that emerged because there was demand for citizens to create solutions when the response from government was slow and people wanted to make change on their own,” Hussain says. “This hackathon felt like it was the right thing because it was tackling issues that Lebanese society faces as a whole—access to services, resources, and information—but which tend to affect women most because they’re disenfranchised.”

Chayn is headquartered in London, but Hussain is originally from Pakistan and heads a team of volunteers from all over the world. Hussain hopes the organization acts as facilitators, active in working with stakeholders and finding sustainable solutions to build peace. “We believe in a ‘build with, not for’ approach—that’s all about working with people you’re building solutions for, rather than building it for them without including them as part of the design process,” she says.

Article via Good Magazine, September 22, 2015

Photo: Globe in Purple via Norm Hoekstra [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

Spotlight on Peacebuilding: Ushahidi

November 4, 2015 Shelby Bice Leave a comment Human Rights

Ushahidi‘s name means “testimony”, which is fitting. The peacebuilding organization creates software that allows individuals to share their “testimonies” about events in order that other people may become better informed. These “testimonies” can be used to keep track of outbreaks of violence, as was the case after the election in Kenya in 2008. They can also be used to map where relief efforts are needed, such as after the earthquake in Nepal earlier this year. So far, Ushahidi has received over 6.5 million “testimonies” through their programs. In this way, Ushahidi is accomplishing their goal of “creating technology that solves global problems.”

Ushahidi’s crowdsourcing software is applicable to many industries, only one of which is peacebuilding. These industries include human rights, environmental activism, humanitarian aid, and development on the international level, among others. Their software contains multiple features, including collecting and managing the “testimonies”, or data, presenting the data in a visual format, and alerting users to changes in the data. The open source code software also allows users to create their own branding. In addition to creating the software, Ushahidi will also work with users to train them and provides technical support.

In addition to their crowdsourcing software, Ushahidi has several other products. For example, RollCall allows members of team to contact each other on any and make sure that each member is okay, which is particularly useful in crisis situations. CrisisNet, on the other hand, allows people who have collected data on crisis situations an easy way to format and analyze their data. This allows journalists, analysts, and others to get the information they need from the data more quickly. In turn, this allows them to spread information about the crisis in a more time-efficient manner. To learn more about Ushahidi, their crowdsourcing software, and their other products, visit their website.

Sources: QuakeMap Cast Study; Ushahidi

Photo: Peace via Steve Rotman [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]