Brindisi | DPKO/DFS
The Department of Field Support (DFS) hosted its first international symposium on Technology and Peacekeeping: Exploring New Partnerships—Future challenges and opportunities for strategic partnership in September. The three-day event, organized by the Information and Communications Technology Division's Military Communications Cell, took place in Brindisi, Italy at the United Nations Global Service Centre, and marks the first time that an information sharing conference on information and communications technology (ICT) has been organized for the Peacekeeping community.
The symposium attracted numerous high-ranking international delegates from 16 Member States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
One of the main objectives was the establishment of a high-level strategic partnership network, which will meet annually to discuss progress made on the projects that resulted from this conference.
Some key project outcomes from the 2014 symposium include:
- Establishing a UN ICT Regional Training Centre in Entebbe, Uganda, which will provide centralized ICT training and education for UN Military Signal Units and other key personnel, beginning with training in MINUSMA (United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali) and MINUSCA (United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic);
- Improved Camp Security, exploring the use of surveillance aerostat technology to detect threats;
- The creation of a Peacekeeping Technology Roadmap Think Tank, consisting of analysts and experts from the UN and Member States, who will present their recommendations on how we move toward the idea of a “Technology Enabled Peacekeeper” at the next event.
A second symposium is planned for September 2015. Interested parties should contact Lieutenant Colonel Axel Weber, Head of Military Communications Cell, Strategic Mission Support Unit, ICTD DFS UNHQ (webera@un.org).