UNODA and Cybersecurity Tech Accord announce “Apps 4 Digital Peace!” contest

Img blog apps 4 digital peace

I wanted to highlight an initiative that might be of interest to you.

The Cybersecurity Tech Accord and the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) today launched a first-of-its-kind competition to stimulate new thinking from young innovators across the world and to contribute towards security and stability of our online environment – Apps 4 Digital Peace.

The goal of the competition is to develop original technology-based solutions to both help limit the use of the internet as a domain of conflict and to increase the stability of our online environment. The Competition is meant to complement the work of the United Nations in promoting an open, secure, stable, accessible and peaceful cyber environment through:

  • Addressing existing and potential cyber threats,
  • Ensuring respect for international law in cyberspace,
  • Ensuring respect for human rights in cyberspace,
  • Adherence to voluntary norms, rules and principles,
  • Fostering confidence building, and
  • Cybersecurity capacity building.

Any software or hardware technology that will promote digital peace will be considered. Submissions may take form of mobile apps or original hardware devices that would make a positive contribution to the digital realm. The competition is open to teams of up to 5 people between 16 and 32 years old. The submissions, including an overview of the project, a short pitch, in either video or essay form, are due 30 July 2020. Teams with the best entries will be invited to present to a panel of judges during the United Nations High Level week (September 2020 in New York).

For more information please take a look at this blog post, which also includes the detailed rules of the competition, or send an email to apps4digitalpeace@cybertechaccord.org.

INFINIT Consulting, as a signatory to the Cybersecurity Tech Accord, is a strong supporter of this effort and we hope that as many teams as possible apply and deliver fun, innovative solutions to promote digital peace. We therefore hope that the news of this competition is something that you might want to share more broadly within your department, school, or university – whether it is directly, through newsletters, or social media.

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