Episode 27: Sanjana Hattotuwa on technology, disinformation, and peace

In this episode of the ICODR podcast Ian speaks with Dr. Sanjana Hattotuwa, pioneer in ICT for peacebuilding and citizen journalism. Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa has recently returned to Sri Lanka after a several years in New Zealand where he completed his doctorate at Otago University with a thesis on "Liking hate? Social media, politics, and conflict in Sri Lanka." He has also been Research Director with the Disinformation Project [https://thedisinfoproject.org/] Since 2001, Sanjana has been at the forefront of pioneering the integration of technology into peacebuilding initiatives. In 2007, he founded and continued to curate until June 2020, the award-winning Groundviews [https://groundviews.org/], Sri Lanka's first citizen journalism website. His expertise extends beyond Sri Lanka, and South Asia, and covers work in five continents for over two decades, working on civic media, information disorders, new media literacy, web activism, digital security, and online advocacy. Since 2006, Sanjana has been Special Adviser to the ICT for Peace Foundation [https://ict4peace.org/activities/], with a focus on providing strategic insights and guidance in the deployment of ICTs for the intricate facets of crisis early warning, prevention, management, and recovery. Between 2002 and 2020, Sanjana was Senior Researcher, Centre for Policy Alternatives [https://www.cpalanka.org/] with a focus on secure strategies for online and mobile communication. In 2002, he played a pivotal role as a lead architect in devising an online negotiation platform, and related information support systems that bolstered crucial engagements, and research surrounding the Track 1, 2, and 2.5 ceasefire agreement processes.