06 Apr 2016 - Richa Neupane
On March 30-31, I attended my very first UN-hosted roundtable conference. The roundtable was a platform to generate new ideas drawing from our experiences in the process of creating tools that would help prevent conflict through the use of data.
As I was riding to the event location, I did not know what to expect. At the end of day two, I now know so many amazing people working in the data and development fields. I am also aware of various challenges and opportunities around the usage of data.
There were about twenty-five attendees from various sectors. As most of Code for Nepal staff (volunteers) is based outside Nepal, it was a good way to meet professionals who have been doing similar work in Nepal.
On day one, Mr. Allen Tuladhar from Microsoft Innovation Center Nepal (MIC) presented about MIC’s experiences and data and digital literacy in the Nepali context. We also learned about their efforts in partnership with UNDP and UNV through their Debris Management Program. Dr. Anders Engvall and Mr Rudi Sukandar shared about their many years of data collection and analysis work to tackle conflict in Thailand and Indonesia respectively. We also heard from Mr. Thomas Barr from Peace Informatics Lab and Mr. René Clausen Nielsen from the Global Pulse Lab about various case studies on the use of big data for conflict prevention and development.
In between these presentations we had group discussions and Q/A to put the learnings into Nepali context. All of the participants had some role in the use of data especially for the humanitarian response during the earthquake.
I shared about how Code for Nepal used low-tech high-impact approach through Google document, screenshots, and Facebook ads to circulate information about resources, volunteers, and people that needed help during the earthquake. All the knowledge we got on day one would be used as a precursor to meet our objectives for the next day.
On day two, we were divided into two groups. We brainstormed ideas while David Roth and Ruici Tio from LoveFrankie facilitated the group work. Participants observed that the process was similar to design thinking. We were exploring concepts that would answer the question ‘How might data prevent conflict, violent extremism and build peace?’. My group came up with the idea of a youth led initiative that would involve a crowdsourcing platform.
We tested our main concepts using the POWER tool. The group involved professionals with different backgrounds and perspectives. We pitched our idea and got feedback. All this was done within fours hours. Even though our group had a lot of debates and differences, we were able to come up with a final pitch. It was a wonderful learning experience hearing from such diverse group of professionals.
I would like to sincerely thank UNDP, UNV and UNRCO for the opportunity to be a part of this roundtable and all the attendees for kindly sharing their experiences, ideas, and great intent to work with each other.