New Swiss Alliance for Capacity-building in PeaceTech

Illustration: Doug Thompson - EPFL (the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne) and The Geneva Graduate Institute (formerly IHEID) have signed an agreement to create the Swiss PeaceTech Alliance, which will bring together complementary knowledge needed to build capacity internationally in the field of PeaceTech. The partners are very proud to further announce that the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform (GPP) has also decided to join the alliance. PeaceTech is an emerging area of peace promotion that utilizes technology for conflict prevention and resolution, and to create the conditions for peace. A promising example today is the combination of cutting-edge methods in artificial intelligence, big data and blockchain, which aim to monitor, verify and actively counteract online mis(dis)information. PeaceTech practitioners work hand-in-hand with actors from other peace fields (peacebuilding, peacemaking, diplomacy, etc. Building on the country's long tradition as a neutral actor engaged in peace promotion, the partnership will position Switzerland as a leader in the field with concrete actions to bring critical knowledge at the intersection of peace processes and technology. The partnership has already presented its mandate and discussed the first concrete project with the Peace and Human Rights group of the Swiss Department of Federal Affairs.