Through a series of blog posts, we discuss topics from digital campaigning and online ‘slacktivism’ to the promises and perils of technological advances to key discussions on transparency and accountability in the digital environment. We feature a range of articles on contemporary topics and timely debates on topics such as social media regulation, inequality in the distribution of ICT, open and big data ethics, datafication in the global south, the power and biases of algorithms, the use of technology for misinformation, anger, or fear.
Meet our Team
We are a group of five students who are currently undertaking the Master of Communication for Development programme. We are spread across the globe and share an interest in the topic of development in the digital world.
Maxime is a Swedish-Swiss multilingual journalist with experience from the UN HQ, development fieldwork and building communities on social media. He’s particularly curious with ‘our new normal’ – to explore the many facets of digitalization and big data.
Alicia is a multidisciplinary journalist based in Valencia, Spain. She has a wide background in the fields of creativity and design, and a great sensitivity for human-centered topics. Specially interested in the use of innovative communications for crafting a new and improved global future.
Kaisa has a background in Peace and Conflict Studies as well as Administration studies, who currently works for the Ministry of the Interior of Finland at Crisis Management Centre Finland (CMC Finland). CMC is a government institution that arranges training and recruits civilian crisis management experts to UN, EU and OSCE missions. Kaisa is especially interested in the ways how media can include and, on the other hand, exclude certain social groups and people. In other words, she wants to discover the inequalities that media – especially new media – folders.
Paul is a multilingual privacy and cybersecurity professional with a background in municipal government and non-profit organisations. Based in Canada with strong ties to Europe. Having had a diverse range of educational areas of study spanning a period of 20 years, Paul has the ability to analyze and seek unconventional solutions to technological problems facing society. Interests include media, technology, IoT and the algorithms that have overtaken our abilities to process them and have imparted significant social engineering, manipulation and change.
Annmarie is an Irish communications professional, with a background in Social Science, and over seven years’ experience working in communications roles for government and international organisations. She has experience working for an EU agency in the area of social policy and with the UN Humanitarian Settlement Programme in Australia. She is particularly interested in the role of digital technologies and mass media in shaping global discourse.