About Hacking Conflict

Social media, big data, the Internet. They have changed the world. They have changed conflict. Revolutions are tweeted. Information is warfare. Citizen journalists bear witness. Non-violent activists circumvent warlords to organize, connect and seek global action.

New technologies can be leveraged to reach, engage and amplify the voices of non-violent actors caught in the midst of conflict. But how? To what end? What is the potential? What are the risks? Can local and global “connection” help to transform conflict?

On May 27-28, 2015 in Ottawa, Canada six multi-disciplinary teams will undertook a #DiploHack Challenge to consider how social media, big data and/or new technologies can be leveraged to hack through the fog of war and empower non-violent actors seeking to transform their national/regional conflicts.

Click here for more information on how the event works.

#HackingConflict was co-organized by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, The SecDev Foundation (Canada), the Canadian International Council and in partnership with Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada. The event emphasized the political like-mindedness of Canada and the Netherlands in international affairs, and the vast potential for creative, political cooperation to solve difficult global challenges.

About #Diplohack

DiploHacks bring together diplomats, techies, social entrepreneurs, academics and civil society representatives to creatively “hack” real world problems — to explore innovative ideas that leverage new technologies to solve old challenges.

The first #DiploHack was organized in London in 2013 (featured in Wired). DiploHacks have been organized around themes linked to freedom of speech, internet freedom, sexual violence (London, 2014), women in education (Rabat, 2015) and cybersecurity strategies (Washington D.C., 2015).