Innovative Partnership Gathers Tech Troops to Defend Democracy
USAID and UK behavior change communications agency Zinc Network has partnered with Startup Grind on an initiative that will unleash Georgia’s tech talent to build innovative tools to support the fight against disinformation.
The event launches Tuesday, June 29th at 19:30 with an online event featuring speakers from investigative journalism group Bellingcat, which brought Navalny to confront his poisoner and which has uncovered many secret hostile acts by the Russian state as well as uncovering corrupt activities in various other countries. They will be joined by Alistair Coleman, BBC’s leading disinformation monitor who has exposed lies and propaganda from Iran to North Korea. Batu Kutelia, Georgia’s former Ambassador to Washington and Deputy Minister of Defense will speak about the Russian states hybrid war on Georgia, and a representative of the country’s leading election monitoring organization will explain how they are using tech tools to track attempts to influence voter opinions through disinformation across social media platforms.
“Georgian information environment is under attack by malign actors who spread false information and seek to divide society and weaken the country. Information manipulation is an important element of Russian ‘hybrid warfare. The Georgian Information Integrity Program works to combat this by building resilience across Georgian society. By reaching out to the country’s tech talent we will mobilise some of the country’s top innovators to help effectively protect Georgia” says Mikheil Benidze, the Chief of Party of the Georgia Information Integrity Program.
The first joint activity will be a Counter Disinformation Innovation Competition where Georgian teams will build new tools to fight disinformation and compete for funding of up to USD 42,500. Prizes start with a guaranteed USD 7,500 upfront and additional funds released as the pilots develop.
“This is the first project of its kind, bringing the tech community together to protect and defend against manipulation by foreign powers. By unlocking the power of creative startups and tech companies we hope to support Georgia’s capacity to defend from these manipulations. If you care about Georgia’s territorial integrity I encourage you to help in this fight for information integrity”. Says Colin Donohue SG director.
“Disinformation represents an attack on Georgia’s democracy that seeks to undermine the social and institutional trust that makes democracy possible. Differences of opinion are a healthy part of democracy. Foreign powers spreading falsehoods and pitting people against each other is not. USAID is helping Georgia build resilience against disinformation and other kinds of malign influence through a “whole-of-society” approach that brings together the public and private sectors, media outlets, and civil society,” said Acting Director of USAID Mission to Georgia David Hoffman.