Lisa Schirch 25 Spheres of Digital Peacebuilding and PeaceTech 15 6. Digital Public Opinion Polling Digital technology offers a range of research methods that can monitor public responses to peacebuilding interventions or survey public attitudes toward peace and conflict. For example, in 2018, the peacebuilding NGO called International Alert worked with the British Council and the technology firm RIWI to conduct a Peace Perceptions Poll, which surveyed more than 100,000 people in 15 countries who had experienced both peace and active conflict about their views on both. The poll found that the public supports long-term conflict prevention and peacebuilding, and political and economic inclusion as fundamental to peace and security.54 The Elva Platform or “Atlas of the Future” combines data collection tools like SMS, Smartphone, and web reports to measure public opinions on community safety in Ukraine, or violent extremism in West Africa or Georgia. These surveys collect in-depth citizen reports and surveys on local needs, empowering community leaders to monitor and manage conflict and to deliver better targeted assistance. The Elva Platform specialises in producing map-based visualizations.55 A group called Data for Peace and Security and a 2019 workshop with the same name hosted by the New York University (NYU) Centre on International Cooperation, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the UN Peacebuilding Support Office documents a range of other peacebuilding uses for digital data collection and management. One of the key concerns is the lack of data literacy by decision makers unable to distinguish quality data from “dirty data.”56 7. Digital Coordinating of Crisis Information Armed groups use technology to coordinate and carry out violence. Peacebuilding actors, like humanitarian and development actors, benefit from new technologies that can manage big data sets and create data visualization charts and maps that can be shared with a wide range of actors working in conflict and post-conflict contexts.57 Peacebuilders working on a peace process, for example, need access to information regarding numbers of internally displaced people, movements of armed groups, and water availability. The United Nations Global Pulse Initiative recognises big data as “a new, renewable natural resource” and aims to increase innovation and adoption of big data technologies.58 “Peace Perceptions Poll.” London: International Alert, British Council, RIWI, 2018. Found at http://www.peaceperceptionspoll.org/%20 Accessed on 20 June 2020. 55 For more information on the Elva Platform see their website at https://elva.org 56 “Report of the Practitioners Workshop on Harvesting Best Practices and Building a Community of Practice.” New York: NYU Center on International Cooperation, 2019, p. 8. 57 Andrew Robertson and Steve Olson, Sensing and Shaping Emerging Conflicts; Report of a Workshop by the National Academy of Engineering and United States Institute of Peace. Roundtable on Technology, Science, and Peacebuilding. Washington DC, The National Academies Press, 2013. 58 “Big Data for Development: Challenges and Opportunities.” United National Global Pluse. May 2012. Found at https://www.unglobalpulse.org/document/big-data-for-development-opportunities-and-challenges-whitepaper/ Accessed 1 July 2020. 54