The ecology of human rights organizations is immensely complex. As Patrick Ball of Benetech walked through the quantity of players and social dynamics at NetSquared today, it became clear that developing technology for the human rights community is an intimidating challenge. (Disclosure note: Omidyar Network is a funder of Benetech.) On one end, there are local, grassroots groups with sensitive information to share. Ball had useful advice for folks trying to bridge these groups with larger efforts via technology:
- Start with your partner's problems, not the neat technical idea
- Dig in for the long haul - partnerships require years
- Develop features that directly advance your partner's mission goals
Dan McQuillan from Amnesty International touched upon many of the emerging rules of engagement for human rights and technology. One of the more salient aspects was how Amnesty is working to incorporate the work of the activist community into Amnesty's long-established work on human rights. As McQuillan noted, Web 2.0 technologies have rapidly become pervasive, and established nonprofits must put thoughtful consideration into how these technologies can best be used to welcome the community into the organization's activities.
WITNESS is this conference's poster child for participatory media production. (Disclosure note: Omidyar Network is a funder of WITNESS.) As Bryan Nunez put it, the people on the ground create the media, and WITNESS just gets the word out. One of big changes for the organization this year is the emphasis on harnessing the wisdom of crowds. Their big questions: How can WITNESS harness the experience of its community? Is it a marketing problem, or is it a social challenge?
Moderator Anna Feldman from GreenNet corralled these panelists into a larger discussion of what goals were important (preventing human rights violations) and which were not (technical progress for its own sake.) Nunez believes that ICT practitioners need to assure that technology is only embraced when it goes directly to the organization's mission.
One audience member found the conversation "chilling" in that he
realized that all of these technologies were developed by Western
democracies, and they may need a complete rethink when it comes to
approaching these communities living in less-than-democratic
conditions. It challenges the theoretical utility of new technologies.
McQuillan thought that new community technologies provide great value
to evolving the conditions in question. Ball also believes that the
simple gee-whizziness of technology can inspire people in these
communities, even if they can't use it.
Finally, a fabulous
quote from McQuillan seems to embody the panel's hopes: "The
architecture of participation will lead ordinary people to do
extraordinary things."
Tags: christine herron christine.net space jockeys netsquared net2 nonprofit nptech technology ict witness benetech amnesty human rights
