Diplomacy Goes Smart and Mobile

Andreas Sandre explores the changing face of diplomacy and development. 

Diplomacy is in the midst of a technological revolution far greater than we think. While social media and the emergence of new non-state actors on the international arena have been changing the way governments actuate foreign policy priorities, innovation is nurturing new ideas and programs with one common denominator: mobile technology.

More and more governments are now focusing on the potential of tablets, smartphones, and portable devices in the pursuit of foreign policy goals and objectives. Quite simply, mobile technologies are growing fast and not only in North America and Europe, but in the most rural areas of the globe and in regions where human rights and civil liberties are far from being fully enjoyed by all citizens. Indeed, diplomacy is trying to fully exploit the mobile potential. The digital diplomacy sphere has gone beyond simple public diplomacy and communications strategies, and has fully embraced a digital approach to policy. The recent decision by the U.S. Administration to ease sanctions restrictions on selling smartphones, laptops and computer software to Iranians “is part of an effort to thwart government crackdowns and censorship by spreading tools that help organize protests,” recently reported the Wall Street Journal. The move includes a lift on a broad array of advanced communications equipment, from antivirus software and satellite phones to computer tablets and modems. Text messaging, cellphone videos and social-networking sites all played a central role during Iran’s 2009 elections, with some casting the protests as a “Twitter Revolution.” As digital diplomacy efforts in the region have been on the rise -- mostly due to Iran’s elections in mid-June -- the US is now focusing on opening all possible channels of communication with the Iranian people beyond the Virtual Embassy project the US State Department launched in 2011. “Because the United States and Iran do not have diplomatic relations, we have been deprived of opportunities for dialogue with the citizens of Iran,” said back then Victoria Nuland, then spokesperson for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “But, using new technologies like this website and our linked social networking sites, we hope to bridge that gap and promote greater understanding.” While the US decision to ease mobile technologies sanctions might not have an immediate impact -- as it will take time for the process to be implemented and get companies and providers on board -- a new diplomatic path seems to have been put in place. Following the American experience with the Virtual Embassy, Canada has recently embraced social media and mobile technologies to reach out to Iranians while addressing the Iranian regime directly. "Rather than waste your precious resources trying to scramble this video feed, or trying to shut down the people's website, or trying to subject your people to the oppressive veil of tyranny, open up," Canada’s Foreign Minister John Baird said at a recent event at the Munk School of Global Affairs of the University of Toronto. As digital technologies are becoming more widespread, the explosive growth of smartphone and the global use of cellphones in all areas of the world allows us to betterunderstand human behavior and thus better adjust foreign policy priorities to specific targets, and even recalibrate development agendas at the level of international organizations and regional entities. The data on mobile communications are quite astonishing. According to the 2013 edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report, total mobile subscriptions exceeded 6.4 billion by the first quarter of 2013 and they are expected to reach 9.1 billion by 2018, with almost half being smartphone, due to reach 4.5 billion by the end of 2018. Mobile subscriptions are also increasing for PCs, mobile routers and tablets that use larger screen sizes. They are expected to grow from 300 million in 2012 to around 850 million in 2018, exceeding the number of fixed broadband subscriptions. Ericsson’s report also shows important data on global mobile penetration, at 90 percent in the first three months of 2013, reaching at almost 110% in the Middle East and at 70% in Africa, a region where cellular communications are growing fast despite a lack of electricity to run traditional transmitters and receivers. “As Africans have more disposable income, and also are getting used to the influx of Internet and mobile connectivity, the need for power increases,” said Erik Hersman, director of iHub, a Kenyan startup incubator, in a recent article of the MIT Technology Review. “The western understanding of energy infrastructure doesn’t fit the continent either; it needs a rethink.” It’s quite astonishing if you consider that more Africans have access to mobile phones than to clean drinking water. Development organizations, including the United Nations Development Fund, are investing on the continent in a smarter way, exploiting innovative ways of using mobile technologies and build on public-private partnerships. A clear example is Nairobi’s iHub, dreamed up by the people behind Ushahidi, an open source project which allows users to crowdsource crisis information to be sent via mobile. Since its launch in 2008, Ushahidi has gone global, partnering with the World Bank and UNDP to bring the technology to other countries. The iHub's founders hope that other small start-ups could benefit from similar partnerships. “Information communications technologies (ICTs) are critical for lifting productivity even in rural areas,” said UNDP Administrator Helen Clark during her visit to iHub in Kenya. “Getting information in real-time out to farmers and small businesses, enabling people through the application of ICTs to really improve on what they do,” she continued highlighting also the advantages in terms of education and health, “linking marginalized groups in to the society.” Andreas Sandre is a Press and Public Affairs Officer at the Embassy of Italy in Washington DC. The views expressed in the article are the author's only and do not necessarily reflect those of the Embassy of Italy. On Twitter: @andreas212nyc.