Event explores digital opportunities for crisis work and international development
The role of communications and technology in crises worldwide are to be discussed at an event that launches a new international network of researchers.
On 25 - 26 November, our University will launch the Newton Tech4Dev Network which gathers a global consortium of scholars to advance research on digital technologies in the low- and middle-income countries. Organised around three research clusters on disaster management and digital media; crisis cultures and convivialities; and digital sweatshops; the network aims to develop new research projects that address these cluster themes.
The event ‘Crisis Work and Digital Opportunities’ invites reflection on the significance of communication technologies for crisis work, such as when reporting and responding to conflict, natural disasters, and forced migration. It also considers emergent media and their opportunities for facilitating political participation, socio-economic development, and financial inclusion. Together the presenters offer a bottom-up, contextually diverse, and culturally sensitive approach to technologies for development.
The Newton Tech4Dev Network is funded by a British Council Institutional Links grant of £300,000, with Dr Jonathan Ong as the Principal Investigator from our School of Media, Communication and Sociology and Dr Julio Teehankee as Principal Investigator in De La Salle University. It is also supported by the Media and Development Research Group in the School of Media, Communication and Sociology at the University of Leicester, CAMEo — the Research Institute for Cultural and Media Economies, De La Salle University College of Liberal Arts, and Keele University Centre for Social Policy.