Peace Informatics: Bridging Peace and Conflict Studies with Computer Science

Advances in science and technology play a crucial role in the context of peace, conflict and security. However, research on the intersection of peace and conflict research as well as computer science is not well established yet. As information technology (IT) becomes ubiquitous, this encompasses both the resilience of IT infrastructures, e.g. as target in conflict situations and the role of IT applications in preventing and managing conflicts, crises and disasters. This chapter is an introduction to IT and its role in war and peace, in conflicts and crises, as well as in safety and security. Based on these connections, a new field of research has emerged: peace informatics. This research area is introduced in this chapter and an overview of the interdisciplinary concepts of peace, conflict and security is given. In addition, the Darmstadt research disciplines of computer science and peace and conflict studies as the basis of peace informatics are introduced.