Digital innovation today is more rapid than ever before. In the unique environment of armed conflict, new technologies provide both a beacon of hope and a series of challenges for humanitarian responses.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, the Australian Red Cross and the University of Queensland invite you to the launch of the International Review of the Red Cross: Digital technologies and war.

We will take a deep dive into the intersection of armed conflict and the digitalisation of our society, discussing the potential risks and benefits an increasingly digital environment presents for both technologies of warfare and humanitarian work.

The event will be held both in-person and online, featuring presentations from contributors to the Review, followed by a panel discussion and Q&A session available to attendees in person and online.

Download a copy of the International Review of the Red Cross - Digital technologies and war.

Arrival time

Doors will open at 5pm. Please arrive by 5:15pm for the commencement of the event.

The Zoom webinar will be turned on at 5:15pm for virtual attendees. The link to join the Zoom webinar can be accessed here. Please also make sure to register for a virtual attendee ticket if you attending the Zoom webinar.

The event will conclude at 7pm.

Speakers

Speakers and panellists bring an immense amount of expertise and knowledge, as well as lived experience in international humanitarian law and humanitarian work.

Bruno Demeyere, Editor-in-Chief of IRRC

Bruno has been the Editor-in-Chief of the International Review of the Red Cross since July 2020. He has had a long career with the ICRC, first as a Legal Advisor in 2011 and then serving as the Head of the Legal Department of the ICRC’s Delegation to Israel and the Occupied Territories in 2018-19. He has been involved in drafting several informal restatements of customary IHL including on: air and missile warfare, cyber warfare and naval warfare.

Associate Professor Rain Liivoja

Our MC for the evening, Rain is the Deputy Dean (Research) at the University of Queensland TC Beirne School of Law, where he leads the Law and the Future of War research group. Rain is also a Senior Fellow with the Lieber Institute for Law and Land Warfare at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Rain's current research focuses on the legal challenges associated with military applications of science and technology.

Delphine van Solinge

Delphine has worked at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) since 2004. In her current position as adviser on digital risks in armed conflicts, she looks at how technologies can become a source of harm for affected people. Before taking this role she worked as Protection Coordinator in Chad, the Philippines, Afghanistan and Colombia and as Head of Unit for Global Protection Affairs in Geneva. Before joining the ICRC she worked with different NGOs in Africa.

Dr Eve Massingham

Eve is a Senior Research Fellow with University of Queensland TC Beirne School of Law. Eve's current research focuses on the diverse ways in which the law constrains or enables autonomous functions of military platforms, systems and weapons. She is the co-editor of Ensuring Respect for International Humanitarian Law (Routledge, 2020) and she has published a number of book chapters and journal articles in the field of international humanitarian law. Prior to joining the University of Queensland, Eve worked for the International Red Cross and Red Cross Movement for ten years, including as the International Committee of the Red Cross' Regional Legal Adviser for East Africa and as an International Humanitarian Law officer for Australian Red Cross. She is an Australian qualified lawyer (admitted 2004) who has served as an Australian Army Reserve Officer. She was a Chevening Scholar at King’s College London where she completed an LLM in 2009 and was awarded a PhD from the University of Queensland in 2016.

Nicole Batch

Nicole is the Protection Manager within the Migration Support Programs at Australian Red Cross. In this capacity, she manages the Restoring Family Links and Immigration Detention Monitoring Programs at Red Cross. Nic is a social worker and has also has worked with the ICRC in Sudan and Myanmar, and with the IFRC in Budapest as a protection advisor. Nic also participates in a number of global level working groups within the Red Cross Movement in relation to detention and RFL.

Yannick Heiniger

Yannick Heiniger is Deputy CEO of Swissnex San Francisco, a US-based organisation which connects the dots between Switzerland and the West Coast of the USA in education, research, innovation, and the arts. Prior to coming to this role, Yannick was the Partnerships Manager within the Office of the Director for Digital Transformation and Data at the ICRC.

This launch will also feature a presentation from up and coming humanitarian researcher:

Isabelle Peart

Isabelle is a recent graduate of a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Queensland. She works as a research assistant for the University of Queensland’s Law and Future of War Research Group, which investigates the interaction of law and technological change in the context of national and global security. Her essay, titled ‘Digital safe havens: sheltering civilians from military cyber operations’, won this year’s ICRC/Geneva Academy student essay competition.