January 10, the anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, marked the release of the first in a series of edited volumes examining the increasingly important role of information and communication technology (ICT) in conflict prevention, peacebuilding, peacekeeping and crisis response.

The collection, “Peacebuilding in the Information Age: Sifting Hype from Reality” was developed by Georgia Tech working with the ICT4Peace Foundation (Geneva, Switzerland) and the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. Michael Best, Assistant Professor, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, guides Georgia Tech’s collaboration with the ICT4Peace Foundation and co-edited the papers with Daniel Stauffacher, Barbara Weekes, Urs Gasser, and Colin Maclay.

The goal of the collection is to encourage meaningful debate and action on how to solve the challenges and enhance the opportunities in the effective use of ICTs in peacebuilding and crises response. Included in the collection are essays by former Finnish President and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Martti Athisaari and a “younger generation of cutting edge practitioners and scholars in this fast moving space.” Best and his colleagues intend the collection to transcend current debate and positive hype about ICTs to probe difficult questions, and provide concrete recommendations.

On September 23rd, 2010, Michael Best moderated the International Development Research Centre's second Harvard Forum "Communication and Human Development: The Freedom Connection?" Best is a fellow at the Berkman Center which hosted the forum. Panelist were Nobel Laureates Amartya Sen and Michael Spence and leading Information and Communication Technology (ICT) experts Yochai Benkler and Clotilde Fonseca. The public discussion focused on the role of communication and ICTs in human development, growth and poverty reduction. View video of the forum (at bottom of page).