PEACE and ICT Project

Initiated as part of Phase III of the Toda Institute research programme, the project was launched under the general theme “Peace, Education, Art, Culture, and Environment in a Globalizing World” (resulting in the acronym PEACE). The project is driven by young researchers from Pakistan, Macedonia, Israel, Nigeria, Brazil, Australia, Thailand, Finland, Nepal, Singapore and the United States. Each member of the research team is focusing, in their own local context as well as the global, on the relationships of new technologies/education and the quest for peace and equal opportunity. The researchers work virtually communicating online, and also participate in occasional face-to-face meetings.

The research seeks to identify the perceptions of youths and other contributors to policy creation in diverse cultural and economic settings. It will explore the views and perceptions of youth towards possible implementation of new communication technologies for promotion of peace and tolerance and investigate different aspects of conflicts (cultural, socio-economic, etc.) from the point of view of youth, particularly focusing on the digital divide. Towards a better intercultural dialogue, the study will enquire into a variety of perceptions held by today's youths and their vision for the future, even where this vision challenges the existing policies and views.

The research will look at the question - how does digital divide impact on or contribute to tensions/ conflict and what potential for an environment conducive to peace does bridging the divide hold? The hypothesis that the research is being based on is that:

1. The digital divide is really a circumstance of more general social divides that vary from community to community; and
2. lack of understanding of the application of ICT to our lives, and lack or access to infrastructure, devices or education for ICT is a contributor to tensions and conflicts.

The research will gather ideas and opinions through essay input from young people, interviews with industry experts and policy contributors, and workshops held around the research topic, among other research methods. Since young people represent the major percentage of the victims (and perpetrators) in conflict situations, the book will include extensive primary source data and opinions in addition to information drawn from expert discussions, seminars and written submissions.

The project will analyse and summarise the collected data and will produce a major output in the form of a book. The book aism to be a valuable reference material for peace researchers to understand peace and conflicts in the context of contemporary technologies and the society.

The youth researchers were chosen for participation based on their common experience and passion for creating digital opportunity.