Digital Technologies and Policies for Migration Crisis

Instructor: Carleen Maitland, Associate Professor of Information Sciences and Technology Co-director, Institute for Information Policy, Penn State University

This course covers the challenges and opportunities policymakers, regulators, governmental and non-governmental (NGO) decision makers face in providing digital services during migration crises. Globally, forced migration continues to grow, driving populations across international and regional borders. These mass movements create challenges for providing broadband service to migrants as well as the humanitarian organizations supporting them. At the same time, these crises can create opportunities for expanding connectivity to historically marginalized populations. The course provides a brief primer on migration and humanitarian response and then examines the technical, economic, and policy-related factors enabling digital connectivity and solutions in a time of crisis. The roles of various actors, such as UN agencies, host country governments, and non-governmental organizations, in provisioning and using connectivity are discussed. Case studies of connectivity for refugee crises in diverse regions (the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Latin America) are explored. Policy topics covered include borderland broadband network coverage, security and wireless network management, identity requirements for mobile service, and digital skills training for refugees and migrants together with host communities.