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• Potential impersonality of the medium - There is something about working in front of a monitor that is cold and detached from real world interactions. This could make online debate formal and stiff. Conversely, some people like the impersonality of online communication, and open up in ways they would otherwise not in real world meetings.
• Time – The more time you have to think about your response, the more balanced it should be. On the other hand, issues may build up when unaddressed for a seemingly long time since in online conferencing the perception of time may differ from person to person.
• Public vs. private spaces and perceptions - People have different tolerances of what they think should be "public" or "private." These differences need to be taken into account when choosing to deal with issues in public and/or private spaces.
• Limitations of writing and reading – Not everyone is a Byron or Shakespeare. Misinterpretation in online communication can be the result of inattention to details, ambiguous sentences, or even the inappropriate use of the CAPS LOCK key.
Any individual, organisation or government that wishes to employ ICT for conflict transformation, must be acutely aware these considerations.
Perhaps the most effective use of ICT thus far has been with Online Dispute Resolution (ODR). ODR takes place on an increasingly regular basis in countries like America, where in tandem with Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) techniques, ICT is used to settle litigation and to encourage out of court settlements of disputes.
The transformation of complex ethno-political conflict will however not be entirely possible using ICT. ICT is no substitute for face-to-face negotiations to end protracted civil war. Trust building cannot be nurtured online between two or more parties who have been at loggerheads for decades. However, once that trust has been sufficiently established, and the peace process gains a momentum of its own, ICT can buttress moves on the ground to build bridges between communities and peoples. Furthermore, ICTs can engender greater communal understanding by providing information of the ‘other’, dispelling falsehoods and misconceptions, and helping people-to-people contact. It will be interesting to see, for instance, how the Telecom / ICT Action Plan of the Government of Sri Lanka (as part of the Regaining Sri Lanka framework) augments other developmental activities and confidence building measures to help bring the North-East of Sri Lanka on par with the rest of the country through a comprehensive ICT infrastructure and telecommunications backbone.The future of ICT
“The same Internet that has facilitated the spread of human rights and good governance norms has also been a conduit for propagating intolerance and has diffused information necessary for building weapons of terror.”
ICTs are unlikely to bring about anything better than the best intentions of those who use them. While many look at modern technology as a panacea for old problems, unfortunately it appears that their power for enhancing transparency, imposing international accountability and fostering cooperation stretches only as far as the will of respective nation states bends to embrace and adopt them. This is especially the case in South Asia, where governments are only too aware that too much information in the public domain subverts attempts at illiberal undemocratic governance (very often the status quo).
ICTs are not used in a normative vacuum. Even assertions about the enhancement of democratic participation by ICTs must be tempered by a broader understanding of the power dynamic between an empowered public and those who wield authority.
However, there is immense potential for the use of ICT in the exercise of development and nation-building. Even as ICTs help nations enter into the global ‘information superhighway’, so too does it render it an object of global scrutiny. ICT networks increasingly lend to the subversion of attempts of human rights transgressors to hide their deeds. Governments are realizing the futility of trying to block or filter information, and are instead beginning to work proactively to harness the potential of ICT for development. In Sri Lanka, both through the E-Lanka policy and the Regaining Sri Lanka (RSL) framework, projects like the Viswa Grãma initiative will hopefully herald a more participatory and inclusive development process for the whole country.
The recent Durban Declaration on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, included an entire section dealing with “Information, communication and the media, including new technologies.” This declaration recognizes the potential of ICTs as a positive instrument, along with the possible risks caused by their abuse. Participants expressed their concern at the use of the Internet for the dissemination of racist and discriminatory ideas and called upon governments to take action on these issues. However, they also recognized that “new technologies can assist the promotion of tolerance and respect for human dignity, and the principles of equality and non-discrimination.” Hence the need “to promote the use of new information and communication technologies, including the Internet, to contribute to the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance”.
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Sanjana
Sanjana Hattotuwa is a Rotary World Peace Scholar presently pursuing a Masters in International Studies from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. The views expressed here are his own. He can be contacted at hatt@wow.lk.
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Comments
wonderful article Laurent Straskraba | Apr 7th, 2003
thanks sanjana for this wonderul article. it shows so many objectives and possibilities of the net and related issues. the most important fact in my opinion is that the tool is not the solution itself ... there has to be content, people who train others and many other criteria which are necessary for "good governance" and high value impact of information and communication.
kind regards,
laurent
thanks sir Shakti Ghimire | Aug 17th, 2003
thanks sir Shakti Ghimire | Aug 17th, 2003
i want to more artical than that
please send me releated artical (computer)
apexnepal@hotmail.com
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