State Department-sponsored "tech.del" in Mexico
According to a recent post on DipNote, the State Department's blog, a "tech.del" sponsored by the State Department is currently visiting Mexico. The participants are representatives from U.S. new media and telecommunications firms (including Google, Facebook, and Microsoft), State Department representatives, and an academic and the goal is to "look at how new media and technology tools can help Mexican citizens amplify their voices against narco-violence." Here is an excerpt from the post by Suzanne Hall, the Public Diplomacy Advisor for Canada and Mexico in the State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, "'Tech.Del' to Mexico: Using Technology to Encourage Citizen Participation."
This "tech.del" is the first that we have organized in the Western Hemisphere. We arrived yesterday in Juarez and kicked off our visit with a night border tour organized by Customs and Border Patrol agents. The idea was to give tech.del participants an idea of the breadth and depth of the U.S.-Mexico bilateral relationship. Our border is characterized by an enormous amount of trade in goods and people, both licit and illicit. Today we will have the opportunity to meet with NGOs, journalist associations, business associations and academics from Juarez and the surrounding region who are working with local citizens to improve the security situation on the ground here. Our goal will be to listen to their objectives and the challenges they face, and review how existing technological applications can provide a venue for citizens of Juarez and beyond to better organize, share information on criminal acts and overcome personal security concerns to take a proactive stand against drug cartel violence. After a full day of meetings in Juarez today, we will fly to Mexico City later this evening. On Wednesday, the tech.del participants will meet with Mexico City-based mobile providers, federal government representatives, NGOs and academics to hear the view from the capital. Working with the Mexican government, our starting point is that any long term solution to the challenge of drug violence in Mexico needs to include a grassroots, citizen-based response. Our goal is to identify real deliverables, partnering with the various Mexican institutions we will meet to create a space for the citizens of Mexico to feel secure in finding their voice against the cartels.