The challenges around technology implementation carry higher risks in the human rights sector than in other areas. Technology’s “fail fast” mantra isn’t appropriate here, nor are attempts to innovate, iterate and try again. The stakes are much higher, and reliability makes all the difference. Despite rapid changes in the technology environment, the core work of human rights documentation has not changed at the same rate. Violations must be documented, evidence must be gathered, and communities must be organised. All of this can happen with or without new technologies—how do human rights workers decide on a best course of action?
In 2016, the Oak Foundation supported us at The Engine Room to carry out a scoping study on the use of technology tools for human rights documentation. We spoke to human rights defenders (HRDs), technology tools providers, and intermediaries—people who play something of a bridging role between HRDs and their technology tools—to understand the challenges human rights documentation initiatives face when adopting new tools and practices.
The pressure to use these new technologies in human rights is very real.
