IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2022 - 102

Commentary
More concretely, Centre for Peace Advancement
participants has included a wide range of PeaceTech
startups, including a venture developing hardware
to make the clearance of landmines and other
unexploded ordinances faster and safer [9], and a
venture developing software that enables organizations
to implement and grow diversity, equity, and
inclusion initiatives [10]. The Centre is also home to
peace researchers focused on the military and security
implications of emerging technologies such as lethal
autonomous weapons systems [11]. And students in
the PeaceTech Living Learning Community have been
equipped to use technology to create positive change
as both professionals and engaged citizens [12].
Coming at the intersection of peace and technology
from both a critical and a constructive direction
resonates with the emergence of " digital peacebuilding "
as a specialization within the field of peacebuilding
theory and practice. Indeed, the expression
" digital peacebuilding " is sometimes used interchangeably
with PeaceTech. As noted at a consultation
cohosted by the PeaceTech Lab in 2020, it
typically connotes a broad nexus that includes more
than simply the use or application of digital technologies
by peacebuilders [13]. Digital peacebuilding
also includes addressing emerging threats caused by
digital technologies, including cyberwarfare tactics
aimed at undermining democracy, or hate speech
on social media that drives greater polarization.
Since this consultation, New York University's Centre
on International Cooperation has completed an
ecosystem mapping project focused on the uses of
data for peacebuilding and prevention [14].
GIven that the challenges to peace appear to be
growing at all levels, should the practitioners and
promoters of PeaceTech remain content to fill an
interesting niche in the broader tech for good movement?
Perhaps, it is time to make peacebuilding a
central pillar.

 References
[1] D. M. West, " Techlash continues to batter technology
sector, " Brookings, Apr. 2, 2021. [Online]. Available:
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2021/04/02/
techlash-continues-to-batter-technology-sector/
[2] I. Klugman, " The true north mission: Slow down and
fix things, " Policy: Canadian Politics and Public Policy,
vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 32-33, May/Jun. 2019.
102
[3] Rideau Hall Foundation and Communitech. Tech
for Good: A Declaration by the Canadian Tech
Community. Accessed: May 1, 2022. [Online].
Available: https://canadianinnovationspace.ca/tech-forgood/
[4]
IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous
and Intelligent Systems. Accessed: May 1, 2022.
[Online]. Available: https://standards.ieee.org/industryconnections/ec/autonomous-systems/
[5]
Civic Tech Field Guide. Accessed: May 1, 2022.
[Online]. Available: https://civictech.guide/
[6] T. D. McGuinness and H. Schank, Power to the Public:
The Promise of Public Interest Technology. Princeton,
NJ, USA: Princeton Univ. Press, 2020.
[7] PeaceTech Lab. Accessed: May 1, 2022. [Online].
Available: https://www.peacetechlab.org/what-ispeacetech
[8]
Peace Innovation Institute. Accessed: May 1, 2022.
[Online]. Available: https://www.peaceinnovation.com/
[9] Demine Robotics. Accessed: May 1, 2022. [Online].
Available: https://deminerobotics.com/
[10] Lunaria Solutions. Accessed: May 1, 2022. [Online].
Available: https://lunariasolutions.com/about/
[11] Project Ploughshares. Accessed: May 1, 2022.
[Online]. Available: https://ploughshares.ca/
conventional-weapons/emerging-technologies/
[12] PeaceTech Living-Learning Community. Accessed:
May 1, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://uwaterloo.ca/
centre-peace-advancement/peacetech-living-learningcommunity
[13]
L. Schirch, " 25 spheres of digital peacebuilding and
PeaceTech, " Toda Peace Institute Policy Brief, no. 93,
Sep. 2020.
[14] Ecosystem Map: Data for Peacebuilding and
Prevention. Accessed: May 1, 2022. [Online]. Available:
https://cic.nyu.edu/data-for-peace-map
Paul Heidebrecht is the inaugural director of the
Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement
and an adjunct assistant professor of peace and
conflict studies at Conrad Grebel University College,
Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G6, Canada, and the University of
Waterloo, Waterloo , ON, N2L 3G1, Canada.
 Direct questions and comments about this article
to Paul Heidebrecht, Conrad Grebel University
College, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G6, Canada; paul.
heidebrecht@uwaterloo.ca.
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

https://canadianinnovationspace.ca/tech-for-good/ https://canadianinnovationspace.ca/tech-for-good/ https://standards.ieee.org/industry-connections/ec/autonomous-systems/ https://standards.ieee.org/industry-connections/ec/autonomous-systems/ https://civictech.guide/ https://www.peacetechlab.org/what-is-peacetech https://www.peacetechlab.org/what-is-peacetech https://www.peaceinnovation.com/ https://deminerobotics.com/ https://lunariasolutions.com/about/ https://ploughshares.ca/conventional-weapons/emerging-technologies/ https://ploughshares.ca/conventional-weapons/emerging-technologies/ https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-peace-advancement/peacetech-living-learning-community https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-peace-advancement/peacetech-living-learning-community https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-peace-advancement/peacetech-living-learning-community https://cic.nyu.edu/data-for-peace-map https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2021/04/02/techlash-continues-to-batter-technology-sector/ https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2021/04/02/techlash-continues-to-batter-technology-sector/

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2022