Another March, another ISA conference. 2014 has been good, especially since the networking and socializing was matched by excellent feedback on what I presented. The highlights: What I thought was a failed experiment in getting Twitter to love me actually teased out some interesting methodological challenges that other panelists on the Crowdsourcing Violence panel faced. … Continue reading Learnings from ISA
Crowdsourcing
Headed to Toronto soon…
I'll be at the International Studies Association annual convention from March 26-30 presenting two papers (never again will I submit two abstracts for papers that have to be written from scratch...) on Crowdsourcing methodology and technology in peacekeeping operations. Should be a lot of fun - feel free to give me feedback on the papers … Continue reading Headed to Toronto soon…
Finding Big Data’s Place in Conflict Analysis
Daniel Solomon recently posted a piece on how we conceptualize (and often misconceptualize) the role of big data in conflict event prediction. His post got me thinking about what role big data plays in conflict analysis. This comes on the heels of Chris Neu's post on the TechChange blog about the limits of using crowdsourcing to … Continue reading Finding Big Data’s Place in Conflict Analysis
New post on the TechChange blog!
I just had a new post go up on the TechChange blog - I haven't written for them in a while, so it feels good to be writing for them again!Here's a brief intro, and you can read the rest here:"In recent years, mobile phones have drawn tremendous interest from the conflict management community. Given … Continue reading New post on the TechChange blog!
Samoa Update: What “Kickstarting an Emergency” got me thinking
Andrej Verity, who works at UN-OCHA, wrote a thought provoking and enjoyable post earlier this week about alternative crowdfunding and Kickstarter-type mechanisms for distributing aid funding to beneficiaries during disaster response. I posted a few short thoughts in the comments section of the post, but thought it'd be good to expand on them a bit. Hopefully … Continue reading Samoa Update: What “Kickstarting an Emergency” got me thinking
Samoa update: A little informed consent, a lot of economics
I'm embracing my status as a political scientist working in the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MCIT). While a lot of my experience in the tech space tends to be tool-centric, I'm finding more and more that the challenges on the user end (in this case Samoa) are related to policy and economics. The … Continue reading Samoa update: A little informed consent, a lot of economics
Arrived in Samoa
I’ve arrived in Samoa to start my Clinton-Fulbright Fellowship, working with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology on disaster management and response policy. I’ll be blogging on the technical details of what I’m doing starting next week, but just wanted to post a few photos from my journey.
Peacekeeping, economic growth and technology
The economics of peacekeeping are difficult to unpack but there are signs that when a mission has a strategy that includes long-range economic planning, it can have positive long term effects on the host country’s economy. This could help us understand the strategic value of communication technology as not just a tool for good governance … Continue reading Peacekeeping, economic growth and technology
Complex Peacekeeping and Tech: Don’t forget the politics and the people
General H.R. McMaster recently published an op-ed in the New York Times on the folly of thinking war can be easily won, and the intellectual gymnastics policy makers will do to maintain that illusion. As I read his analysis, many of his observations are germane when thinking about the drive to "tech-up" peacekeeping operations. McMaster's … Continue reading Complex Peacekeeping and Tech: Don’t forget the politics and the people
Rob Baker: Managing risk in the open data and crowdsourcing space
Rob Baker, currently a Presidential Innovation Fellow with USAID, was willing to sit down with me earlier this year to discuss risk management and ethics in crowdsourcing in disaster and conflict-affected regions. He's incredibly smart, insightful, and brings a deep technical expertise to the practice of crisis mapping and crowdsourcing given his many years of … Continue reading Rob Baker: Managing risk in the open data and crowdsourcing space
Charles P. Martin-Shields 