Global CVE Expo 2014

From 9 – 11 December 2014, Hedayah and the Global Counter Terrorism Forum held the Global CVE Communications Expo 2014 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The global community comprised of government officials, industry partners, technology specialists, academic experts, and civil society actors to collaborate in developing and implementing innovative CVE communications activity.

Practitioners and policymakers often agree that Communications is a critical area in countering violent extremism (CVE). Many cite the internet and social media as being the central development that has enabled the spread of a global radicalizing narrative.

Recent events in Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, Pakistan and France have again raised the crucial issue of communications as an important component of the effort to counter violent extremism and recruitment: the messaging of terrorist groups is coordinated, cohesive, technologically advanced and shows strong awareness of the vulnerabilities of its target audience. Most worryingly, it appears to be effective and able to draw large numbers into the conflict. By contrast, the response, the ‘counter-narrative’, appears fragmented and ineffective. There is insufficient international co-ordination and insufficient time and resource devoted to it.

It is in this context that there is an urgent need to encourage more effective collaboration on counter-narratives, drawing from experiences of policymakers, practitioners and industry/private sector representatives. In this regard, national security is safeguarded through international collaboration. In response, the Global CVE Expo 2014 was initiated. It had an immense impact on the CVE community by bringing various sectors together to network, exchange achievement from Hedayah’s Global Expo was that key innovative strategic thinking combined with practical solutions was shared with the wider CVE community, which will ultimately be the key component to mitigating violent extremism.

The main outcomes of the Expo benefited from the range of expertise from approximately 300 participants from 40 countries. Hedayah’s CVE Expo was the international platform for enhancing networks, fostering partnerships and increasing the number of potential stakeholders relevant to Hedayah, which succeeded in connecting local issues within a global framework and provided the foundation in establishing implementable solutions. The Expo went beyond forging new partnerships, to connect creative individuals and organizations to inspire collaboration.

The CVE Hackathon was a featured event at the Global CVE Expo 2014. It provided opportunities for participants to engage experts, government officials, technology companies, and community leaders from a wide range of backgrounds, with the potential to secure support to further develop prototypes.

Four dynamic teams took part in a grueling two-day (48 hour)session on brainstorming and building the prototypes from scratch. The Hackathon prototypes were subject to comments from a judging panel, while the Expo audience and online viewers were able to vote on a winning prototype. Scores collected from conference attendees and the global online audience who tuned into the live stream of the presentations determined the winning team.

To close the Expo and also in celebration of Hedayah’s second anniversary since its launch on 14 December 2012 by H.H. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Global Counter Terrorism Forum Third Ministerial Meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Hedayah hosted its second anniversary Gala Dinner. The main highlight was the announcement of a € 5 million pledge to Hedayah by Marcus Cornaro, The European Union Deputy Director General of the Directorate General for Development and Cooperation, EuropeAid, to implement programs that will help support civil society organizations around the world and giving them the tools necessary to develop their own approaches.