RightsCon Tunis 2019

IODA: A platform to detect and analyse Internet outages (CAIDA, University of California San Diego (UCSD))

Speakers: Alberto Dainotti and Ramakrishna Padmanabhan

When governments order Internet shutdowns, large parts of regions within the countries can experience outages in Internet connectivity. In our session, we will introduce the audience to our tool, IODA, that detects such outages and enables the observation of their characteristics (timing, geographic extent, etc.) through visual interfaces. The Internet Outage Detection and Analysis (IODA) system monitors the Internet in near-realtime and detects outages affecting regions and networks around the world. IODA has detected and documented many Internet connectivity shutdowns in the past, including shutdowns in countries such as Iraq, Gabon, and Mexico. In this session, we will show the audience what IODA can do for them. We will provide the audience an overview of how to use IODA by exploring recent events of interest to the audience. We hope to get feedback from the audience on how to improve IODA; primarily related to usability, accessibility, and functionality. More broadly, we want the audience to understand that information about Internet connectivity shutdowns doesn't have to be limited to hearsay and uncertainty. Being built on peer-reviewed network measurement research, IODA demystifies Internet shutdowns by providing timely facts and powerful analysis tools.

Tactical Mapping: Visualizing Relationships Surrounding Human Rights Problems (Center for Victims of Torture - New Tactics in Human Rights)

Speakers: Brent Jensen and Ayman Malhis  

After a brief introduction, attendees will be introduced to the Tactical Mapping Tool through the use of a case study. Speakers will walk through how the tool will help them to develop a problem statement, vision statement, connections map, spectrum of allies diagram and tactical reports. The group will discuss how the selected inputs from the case study impact the way advocacy and targeted action is implemented. A Tunisian human rights activists, Rania Derbel, from TuMed and participant in Rawabet, will provide attendees with real-life uses of the tool in order to provide context around the implementation of the tool in human rights advocacy. Speakers will include English, Arabic and French speakers, while the tool is built in both English and Arabic. Each attendee will have the option of creating their own account at the end of the session to gain access to the online tool.

Measuring what matters: Launch of human rights data tool to track countries’ progress and spark improvement (Human Rights Measurement Initiative)

Speakers: Anne-Marie Brook, Susan Randolph, and Thalia Kehoe Rowden

Do you or your organisation monitor or report on human rights issues? Are you supporting HRDs who monitor in-country human rights violations? If so, then this session is for you. This session will be a hands-on experiential demo of the new Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) data viz website - due to be launched just days before RightsCon. You will learn: - how to access and interpret comprehensive information on the human rights performance of countries - how HRDs can magnify their voices by feeding their knowledge into our tool - how to integrate comprehensive human rights data analysis into your advocacy work For example, you will learn how to: - use HRMI data to position a specific case in the bigger picture - see whether respect for human rights is improving or deteriorating in a country - compare performance across countries and draw conclusions for needed changes to laws, policies and practices - help interpret progress on the SDGs. Participants with laptops or other devices can explore the data tool in real time. Our team will roam the room to answer questions and provide assistance.