Digital Dilemmas Dialogue #5 Connectivity: need, privilege, lifeline?

About the Event

How important is connectivity for people living through a crisis? How can connectivity support humanitarian operations? And what happens when connectivity fails – or is denied?

To launch the fifth DigitHarium month, ICRC have invited Peter Maurer, President of the ICRC and Franz Fayot, Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs from the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg, to discuss the role that connectivity is having in humanitarian spaces. In particular, the focus will be on how digital connectivity has changed the way we can stay in touch with and provide services to people that might be otherwise inaccessible in an emergency, what the main opportunities and barriers to establishing connectivity in humanitarian spaces are – and how states and humanitarian organisations can collaborate to address them.

The discussion will be the first event of the June thematic path – Connectivity as aid, Connectivity for aid, and Connectivity denial.

Speakers

MODERATOR – Alexandra Boivin – Head of Policy and Humanitarian Diplomacy (ICRC)

The series

The Digital Dilemmas Dialogues are a series of one-on-one discussions about the humanitarian digital transformation, its implications and the work ahead. This 30-odd minutes chat brings together prominent experts and stakeholders from various sectors to explore the humanitarian consequences of a new type or trend in digital technologies each month, and offer reflections on what is coming next.

The Digital Dilemmas Dialogues are a component of the DigitHarium, which is part of the Humanitarian Data and Trust Initiative (HDTI).