Appropriate Value-based ICTs in support of Frontline Peacekeepers

This paper reports a mixed methods study with frontline peacekeepers that aimed to explore values in relation to effective peacekeeping and ICTs. A quantitative study and field visit identified that even in peace keeping areas with poor infrastructure there is considerable access to the Internet with ICT in regular and frequent use. 86 civilian and military peacekeepers participated in 11 focus groups that discussed potential ICT improvements and innovations for peacekeeping at a United Nations base. Analysis identified 4 horizontal themes (User Experience, Integration, Connectivity and Privacy) across 3 use contexts (work performance, personal physical safety and well-being). Core values were being safe, maintaining relationships, doing work well and being cared for by their organisation. Recommendations highlight the urgent need to deploy existing apps on everyday ICTs rather than any real requirements for innovation or significant R&D spend.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Lynne Hall

Samiullah Paracha

Gill Hagan-Green

Conference

Publication date: July 2021

Publication date (Print): July 2021

Pages: 168-179

Affiliations

[0001]University of Sunderland

Sunderland, SR6 0DD

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/HCI2021.17

SO-VID: 7a184ecc-9234-421d-aff7-48e34686008c

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: 34th British HCI Conference

Conference acronym: HCI2021

Conference number: 34

Conference location: London, UK

Conference date: 20th - 21st July 2021

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: Post-pandemic HCI – Living Digitally

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1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/HCI2021.17

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

REFERENCES

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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] P.T. Bartoneet al. (1998). Dimensions in psychological stress in peacekeeping operations. Military Medicine, 163(9), 587-593.

[2] A. Borning, and M. Muller (2012). Next steps for value sensitive design. In: Proc. CHI ’12, ACM, 1125-1134.

[3] L. Brahimi, et al. (2000). Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations. A/55/305-S/2000/809. New York: United Nations General Assembly.

[4] P. Brey (2015) Design for the Value of Human Well-Being. In: J. van den Hoven, P. Vermaas, I. van de Poel (eds) Handbook of Ethics, Values, and Technological Design. Springer, Dordrecht. [Cross Ref]

[5] T.W. Britt, & A.B. Adler (Eds.), (2003). The psychology of the peacekeeper: Lessons from the field. Praeger Publishers, Westport, Conn.

[6] T. Brown, J. Wyatt (2010). Design thinking for social innovation. Stanford Social Innovation Review, (Winter). Retrieved from https://ssir.org/articles/entry/design_thinking_for_social_innovation

[7] G.R. Bushe (2013). The appreciative inquiry model. In E.H. Kessler, (ed.) Encyclopedia of Management Theory, (Volume 1, pp. 41-44), Sage Publications.

[8] C. A. Castro (2003). Considerations When Conducting Psychological Research during Peacekeeping Missions: The Scientist and the Commander. In B. T. Litz, & A. B. Adler (Eds.), The Psychology of the Peacekeeper. Westport, CT: Praeger, Pp. 11-27.

[9] Communication for Peacebuilding: Practices, Trends and Challenges. (2011). Search for Common Ground with support from USIP.

[10] D. Curran (2016). More than Fighting for Peace? Conflict Resolution, UN Peacekeeping, and the Role of Training Military Personnel. New York: Springer.

[11] A. W. Dorn, & P. F. Dawson (2020). Simulating Peace Operations: New Digital Possibilities for Training and Public Education. Simulation & Gaming, 52(2), 226–242. [Cross Ref]

[12] A.W. Dorn (2021). A Technology Innovation Model for the United Nations: The “TechNovation Cycle”. UN Unite Paper 2021(1). <https://walterdorn.net/pdf/Tech-Innovation-Model-for-UN_UnitePaper-2021-1_Dorn_2021-01-27.pdf>

[13] A. W. Dorn (2016). Smart Peacekeeping: Towards Tech-Enabled Operations. IPI, Providing for Peacekeeping No.13.

[14] D. Fidler (2015). Can UN Peacekeeping Enter the Digital Age? Council on Foreign Relations, 2015. Retrieved from http://blogs.cfr.org/cyber/2015/07/02/can-un-peacekeeping-enter-the-digital-age/

[15] Firchowet al. (2017). PeaceTech: The Liminal Spaces of Digital Technology in Peacebuilding. International Studies Perspectives 18(1): 4-421.

[16] B. Friedman, P. H. Kahn Jr., and A. Borning (2006). Value Sensitive Design and information systems. In P. Zhang and D. Galletta (eds.), Human-computer interaction in management information systems: Foundations, 348-372. Armonk, New York; London, England: M.E. Sharpe.

[17] K. Garber, S. Carrette (2018). Using technology in fragile, conflict, and violence situations: Five key questions to be answered. Washington, DC: World Bank.

[18] R. Gowan & L.R. Andersen (2020). Peacekeeping in the shadow of Covid-19 era: Short-term responses and long-term consequences. DIIS Policy Brief. https://www.diis.dk/en/research/peacekeeping-in-the-shadow-of-covid-19-era.

[19] J.J Harris and D.R. Segal (1985). Observations from the Sinai. Armed Forces & Society 11:235-248.

[20] Juan Pablo Hourcade, Natasha E. Bullock-Rest (2011). HCI for peace: a call for constructive action. In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2011 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2011,. pp. 443-452. https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1978942.1979005

[21] D. Jett (2019). Why UN Peacekeeping Missions Fail. The Globe Post. https://theglobepost.com/2019/08/01/un-peacekeeping

[22] N. King & J. Brooks (2017). Doing template analysis: a guide to the main components and procedures. In Template analysis for business and management students (pp. 25-46). SAGE Publications Ltd, https://www.doi.org/10.4135/9781473983304

[23] A.H. Maslow (1943). "A theory of human motivation". Psychological Review. 50 (4): 370–96.

[24] R. Mahamuni, K. Kalyani, P. Yadav (2015). A simplified approach for making human values central to interaction design. Procedia Manuf. 3, 874–881.

[25] MINUSMA Fact Sheet (2013). Supporting political process and helping stabilize Mali. UN Peacekeeping. https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/minusma

[26] I. Mugabi (2021). Why UN peacekeeping missions have failed to pacify Africa's hotspots. Mad for Minds. https://www.dw.com/en/why-un-peacekeeping-missions-have-failed-to-pacify-africas-hotspots/a-57767805

[27] JAN PIERSKALLA, AND FLORIAN M. HOLLENBACH. 2013. “Technology and Collective Action: The Effect of Cell Phone Coverage on Political Violence in Africa.” American Political Science Review 107: 207–24.

[28] N. Salaün (2019). The Challenges Faced by U.N. Peacekeeping Missions in Africa. The Strategy Bridge. https://thestrategybridge.org/the-bridge/2019/10/14/the-challenges-faced-by-un-peacekeeping-missions-in-africa

[29] U Sigri and U. Basar (2014). An Analysis of Assessment of Peacekeeping Operations. The Korean Journal of Defense Analysis. Vol. 26, No. 3, pp. 389-406.

[30] N. Shaker (2015). UN peacekeeping needs a major technological update. QUARTZ. <https://qz.com/509351/un-peacekeeping-needs-a-major-technological-update/>

[31] G. Scaturro (2016). Tech for peace: Facts and figures. SciDevNet. https://www.scidev.net/global/features/tech-for-peace-facts-and-figures.

[32] K. Toyama (2011). Technology as amplifier in international development. Paper presented at the iConference 2011, February 8-11, 2011, Seattle, WA, US.

[33] C. Tran Ngoc, N. Bigirimana, D. Muneeneet al. Conclusions of the digital health hub of the Transform Africa Summit (2018): strong government leadership and public-private-partnerships are key prerequisites for sustainable scale up of digital health in Africa. BMC Proc 12, 17 (2018). [Cross Ref]

[34] UN Peacekeeping (2021). What peacekeeping does? <https://peacekeeping.un.org/en>

[35] UNSC. (2013, April 25). Resolution 2100 (2013). http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/minusma/documents/mali%20_2100_E_.pdf

[36] J. Van den Hoven (2007). ICT and value sensitive design. The Information Society: Innovation, Legitimacy, Ethics and Democracy in Honor of Professor Jacques Berleur SJ, 67–72.

[37] M. Wählisch (2019). Big Data, New Technologies, and Sustainable Peace: Challenges and Opportunities for the UN. Journal of Peacebuilding & Development, 15(1), 122–126. [Cross Ref]

[38] W. Weaver, and C.E. Shannon (1963). The Mathematical Theory of Communication. Univ. of Illinois Press.

[39] NILS B. WEIDMANN 2015. “Communication Networks and the Transnational Spread of Ethnic Conflict.” Journal of Peace Research 52: 285–96.

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