Last summer, I dove into the intersection of technology, policy and refugee health.
Working with an Australian organization, Shifra.io, as well as Techfugees, a nonprofit seeking to empower the displaced with technology, I conducted field research, data analysis and user-testing to collect and share sexual and reproductive health statistics for refugees and migrants in Paris.
There is no better way to describe the experience other than eye-opening. It was mind-bending — empowering, unexpected and electric. It was all these feelings, a small glimpse of the ways in which the world and its diverse communities can be changed by technology.
In the midst of innovation buzzwords like "blockchain," competing big-name companies like Microsoft and Apple, the rise of social media and increasing public wariness toward data-scraping initiatives, we have forgotten to ask ourselves: What is the relation between technology and human rights?
I won’t pretend to have the answers. This is a big question, one that involves the contributions of global policymakers, tech firms and entrepreneurs. But it reflects a need to focus on the human side of modern technology — those who might have more access to information and basic needs like food, water, shelter and health services with the help of a simple smartphone application. It highlights a hole in our collective attention that even non-tech geeks are capable of recognizing.
Behind all of the for-loops, variable declarations and interfaces of programming, there is an even more real potential for impact in our society, one that can benefit even the most marginalized and overlooked groups.
As a computer science and public policy double major, I have spent a significant amount of time thinking about the reasons why I sit for hours behind a laptop either coding sushi-restaurant simulations (my COMP 401 peers will understand and probably shudder) or doing research about international health and human rights for a policy analysis paper. As tedious as I might find these endeavors, I want to find a way to merge these two interests and act upon the tools I have been privileged to learn in my higher education.
During my research in 2019, I met many displaced persons and learned of the courageous sacrifices they've made in order to survive despite the xenophobia and socioeconomic barriers they experienced. I was reminded of the importance of my work — the reality that the technology I was contributing to with Shifra and Techfugees could significantly impact the public health of migrants and refugees in Paris.
“We survive, and that’s it,” one refugee told me. Imagine if the creation of artificial intelligence, smartphones and secure data collection — like that conducted by Shifra to direct its refugee users to trusted clinics and health networks — could make that experience easier.
