- The No Lost Generation Tech Summit took place in Jordan on February 21-22. Led by UNICEF, MercyCorps, Save the Children and World Vision, the summit aimed to bring together the tech and humanitarian communities to work on creating better solutions for young people affected by the crises in Syria and Iraq (No Lost Generation).
- Eleven member states are backing the European Commission’s proposal for tighter export controls on cyber-surveillance tools, a working paper obtained by EURACTIV suggests. Germany, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain signed off on the document supporting the Commission’s plan for stricter regulation on cyber-surveillance exports to protect human rights (EURACTIV).
- The UK sold surveillance equipment including IMSI catchers and surveillance software to the Duterte regime in the Philippines. Thousands of people have been killed by government forces and police officers in the “war on drugs” in the Philippines since Duterte came to power (The Guardian).
- ExsulCoin, the latest in the wave of projects aiming to use blockchain technology to address the global refugee crisis, is running a pilot program with Rohingya refugees in Kutupalong, Bangladesh. The startup plans to combine education, nano-working and financial inclusion for refugees through its app, which rewards users with cryptocurrency tokens for completing tasks and monitors attention levels through using the phone’s camera to track their eye-gaze (CityLab, ExsulCoin).
- Implementing a blockchain-based system at Azraq camp in Jordan will save the World Food Programme $150,000 in bank fees per month when it is fully rolled out, according to a spokesperson. The Building Blocks project relies on biometric identification connected to digital wallets, and could be expanded to connect data such as employment records, credit history and qualifications, said the spokesperson. The success of the program depends on stable infrastructure, however (Swissinfo).
- Andrews Cutts and Alastair Graham have launched a podcast on remote sensing and GIS. Seen from Above has so far looked at topics including open data, Google Earth and its potential successors and predictions for 2018 (Geoger).
- Drones may be the next market for commercial cyber-surveillance companies. Israeli company Elbit Systems, recently exposed by CitizenLab for its hacking of political dissidents in Ethiopia, is promoting a range of electronic warfare programs and “airborne intelligence solutions” for drones (Elbit Systems).
- Steve Vosloo writes on principles vs. practices in ICT4D. He says that although plenty of principles and resources exist, “the principles mostly outline what we should do, and some work has been done on the how side, to help us move from principles to practice. But I think that we need to do more to unpack the why don’t we aspect” (ICTWorks).
- Applications for the Humanitarian Grand Challenge are due on 12th April. DFID and USAID are calling for ideas for “life-saving or life-improving innovations to help the most vulnerable and hardest-to-reach people impacted by humanitarian crises caused by conflict” (Humanitarian Grand Challenge).
Thoughts, comments or something missing which you think should be on this list? Feel free to get in touch at contact[at]humanitech.news.
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