The Future of Human Rights: Technology and Fact-Finding in the 21st Century

Date: 

Thursday, November 3, 2016 (All day) to Friday, November 4, 2016 (All day)

Location: 

Allison Dining Room Taubman 520 (Keynote in NYE A, Taubman)

The Future of Human Rights: Technology and Fact-Finding in the 21st Century, hosted at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government on November 3rd and 4th, to strengthen technical collaboration among stakeholders working on issues at the intersection of human rights and technology. It will also help highlight key theoretical developments in human rights work. The symposium is organized around three technical clusters and the communities of practice that emerge around them:

  • Geospatial: use of remote sensing satellites, geographical information systems (GIS), drones and geographical positioning satellites (GPS) and receivers to track and record human rights violations
  • Digital Networks: use of digital platforms to link individuals in different locations working towards a common goal, such as monitoring digital traces of human rights violations around the world.
  • Forensic: recoding material objects, including human remains, into binary code.  This domain includes Next-Generation DNA sequencing technologies and document scanning and data management technologies.

Look at the Agenda

Look at the Conference Participant Biographies

Through the symposium, we hope to create a better understanding of how digital technologies affect, and can be leveraged in, investigations into potential human rights abuses and war crimes. Participants will develop increased understanding of the capabilities, limitations and points of common purpose found in these technologies.

The Future of Human Rights: Technology and Fact-Finding in the 21st Century, is closed to the general public.

If you are interested in attending, please fill out the short registration form below by October 28, and someone from the Carr Center will follow up shortly.

techsymposiumagendav.pdf215 KB
techhrconferencebios.pdf1.47 MB