In 2025, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data organization recorded more than 185,000 violent events. This is nearly double that of 2021. Not only is the level of conflict growing, the nature of warfare is changing. Technologies such as drones, artificial intelligence (AI), and smartphones are increasingly being used for military combat and defense purposes.
The use of these technologies for warfare is pulling more civilians into conflict. Anyone in possession of a smartphone can easily transmit vital information in real time, including positions of troops, military equipment and persons of interest. Civilian participation in warfare comes with a higher risk of death and injury.
Conflict can also unfold online through communication technologies. This includes disinformation campaigns aimed at eroding public trust, and hate speech aimed at exacerbating tensions between groups. This can spark, prolong and escalate physical conflicts.
However, these technologies can also serve another purpose—one that promotes, builds, and maintains peace.
Over the last several years, peace technologies (or PeaceTech) have emerged around the world and have provided new pathways to promote human dignity and rights. Yet, what are the latest developments in the field of PeaceTech and how are technologies shaping peacebuilding efforts?
In what follows we highlight several examples of PeaceTech launched or updated in 2025 and explain how they are being applied before, during, and after a conflict. We conclude with cross-cutting takeaways across these examples.
The examples were collected through desk research in February 2026 and do not aim to be fully comprehensive. It is rather a selection of technologies used in different conflicts across the globe. As technologies rapidly evolve, this blog provides a snapshot in time and does not assess the ethical implications of these technologies.
Image by Cash Macanaya from Unsplash
EXAMPLES OF PEACETECH
Below we list 10 examples in alphabetical order.
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INITIATIVE |
PEACE CYCLE PHASE |
LOCATION |
IMPACT |
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AlertMe is a mobile application (app) and early warning system based in South Sudan. Using the app, users can submit texts, images and videos with geotags (or “alerts”) which are then disseminated to responders and county commissioners. It was first launched in 2021 after winning the UNDP Youth Innovation Challenge for Peace.
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Before and during a conflict |
South Sudan |
By 2025, 14 initiatives across South Sudan have been assessed for their readiness to support the app. There are plans for scaling through strengthening these networks and providing mobile devices. |
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The Gaza Time Tunnel (by Freedome) is a virtual reality (VR) exhibit that aims to tell the story of Palestinians in Gaza. This is meant to be an immersive experience that explains the history and lived experiences of Palestinian people. This pilot project, which ran from May to June 2025, aimed at raising awareness of what is happening on the ground during the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
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During a conflict |
Palestine |
To be determined, as the initiative completed a pilot in 2025 |
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HO:PE is an online platform for reporting antisemetic hate speech online. With form-based reporting, users submit instances of hate speech directly to the website, through a web extension for Chrome, or mobile app anonymously. Users categorize what kind of antisemitism they are reporting and these reports are reviewed by administrators who look into the incident and take appropriate action, such as removal of the harmful content.
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Before, during and after conflict |
International |
To be determined, as the platform launched in 2025 |
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The ICE Activity Tracker is a community-run country-wide website that aims to raise public awareness of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent locations. Community members submit their observations, such as photographs of ICE vehicles, to the ICE Activity Tracker website. Each sighting is verified by a team member and published on the website including a map of sightings. Plans for development of real-time Short Message Service (SMS) notifications to users are in progress.
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During a conflict |
United States of America |
Over 4,000 daily visitors to the website |
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The UNHRC established the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2022 in response to alleged protester rights violations in Iran, particularly towards women and children. The mission analyzes and verifies crowdsourced social media activity to determine presence of human rights violations. The UNHRC renewed the mission twice, most recently in April 2025.
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During and after a conflict |
Iran |
By June 2025, the mission collected over 38,000 evidence items, including social media posts, photos and videos |
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Kijiji Cha Amani (KCA), an initiative by the Sentinel Project,is an SMS service that aims to prevent violence triggered by misinformation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In the DRC, there are various armed groups operating that exploit misinformation to instill fear and mistrust among the population. The KCA service uses cellular network infrastructure to promote dialogue and a habit of fact checking to stop the spread of violence sparked by harmful misinformation. Users submit rumors through this service for fact-checking. Once information is verified it is redistributed via SMS.
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Before a conflict |
Democratic Republic of the Congo |
By 2025, 924 reports had been submitted for investigation through KCA. Plans for expansion include coverage for the whole eastern region of the DRC including North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri provinces. |
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The Austrian Institute of Technology is building SkillDrill—a training tool that combines VR and mixed reality (MR) for immersive civilian and military training for peacebuilding and humanitarian missions. VR skills training includes situational awareness, intercultural sensitivity, and negotiation. The MR component includes first aid skills training on manikins with censors while in a virtual crisis area.
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Before a conflict |
International |
To be determined, as field trials were scheduled for 2025 |
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TrollWall AI is an AI-powered moderation tool for natural language processing that was developed in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This war led to a rise in hate speech online. TrollWall AI automatically detects and hides online toxicity, which has the potential to lead to violence in real life.
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Before, during and after a conflict |
International |
Launched in 2022, TrollWall AI saw significant growth in scaling and impact in 2025. In 2025, TrollWall AI scanned and analyzed over 35 million comments across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Of these comments, over 11 million were deemed harmful. |
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The United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) uses satellite imagery to give responders a comprehensive picture of the situation on the ground, including the aftermath of natural disasters and conflicts. Through geospatial monitoring, UNOSAT provides critical support and updates to partners working in affected areas.
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During and after a conflict |
Palestine and Sudan |
In 2025, UNOSAT provided critical satellite imagery analysis and mapping of conflicts in Palestine and Sudan. |
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The Virtual Ukraine Project is a VR psychotherapy tool that offers virtual social support groups and treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for survivors of war and displacement. This virtual space is modeled on public places in Ukraine, such as Kiev, and allows participants to meet virtually from different parts of the world.
|
After a conflict |
Ukraine |
Launched in 2022 with plans for expansion in 2025, including treatment for children and integrating virtual reality training for mindfulness and meditation. |
HOW PEACETECH IS APPLIED
These examples are being applied across the peace cycle in several ways.
BEFORE A CONFLICT
Technologies such as crowd-sourcing websites, virtual reality (VR) and SMS systems are being used to detect patterns that precede violence, including misinformation and hate speech. For instance, the creators of Kijiji Cha Amani (KCA) determined that misinformation is often the precursor of conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. KCA’s SMS service shows how digital communications infrastructure can be used to prevent the spread of misinformation and thus minimize the risk of violence in the region.
Meanwhile, other initiatives focus on tracking and minimizing hate speech which has also been observed to be a precursor to acts of violence. HO:PE uses a crowd-sourcing website that allows users to easily submit reports of hate speech. Similarly, TrollWall AI moderates hate speech online through AI detection. TrollWall AI scans visible comments across social media (including emojis and local contexts) and filters toxic comments across 12 languages. TrollWall AI was originally launched to combat hate speech online from the Russo-Ukrainian War and has since expanded to include political events and elections. In 2025, TrollWall AI hid approximately 30 thousand toxic comments online per day.
Total number and percentage of toxic comments flagged by TrollWall AI in 2025.
The examples also illustrate how VR can support conflict prevention through training. SkillDrill combines VR and Mixed Reality technologies to train civilians and military for peacebuilding missions. Some skills required for peacebuilding cannot be adequately taught in the classroom. SkillDrill aims to address this through immersive scenarios where trainees can analyze crisis areas, identify potential dangers, and interact with others in the crisis situation.
DURING A CONFLICT
The examples illustrate how crowd-sourcing apps and websites can be used to alert responders and community members about the patterns of conflict. For instance, the AlertMe app is using crowdsourced data through its app to support county commissioners in South Sudan in monitoring and responding to emerging conflict trends. Since 2021, the AlertMe app has seen 1,908 conflict incidents recorded—764 of these have been successfully resolved.
Similarly, the ICE Activity Tracker is a community-run crowd-sourcing website that aims to alert communities to ICE raid patterns in their areas. The Council on Foreign Relations has deemed U.S. political violence as one of the top conflicts to watch in 2026 in terms of high risk and impact. This includes domestic security deployments, such as those by ICE, which has been criticized for their operations lacking transparency. Crowd-sourcing tools can offer a counterbalance by providing communities with transparency.
Other examples of PeaceTech turn to storytelling during a conflict to raise awareness of on-the-ground conditions and bolster public support for peace. For this purpose the Gaza Time Tunnel uses immersive VR storytelling to portray the lived experiences of civilians in the Gaza Strip. This initiative shows that technology can be used to evoke and amplify empathy as well as facilitate a deeper understanding of consequences of conflict.
Screenshot from Gaza Time Tunnel sample video.
Finally, technology can also be used during conflict to monitor and document at-risk areas. UNOSAT’s satellite images of Sudan have provided a record of damage caused to the country’s heritage sites, resulting from the ongoing conflict. These satellite images may support future accountability processes and can provide critical information for the purposes of heritage protection and restoration.
Slide 46 from the presentation: Satellite-based Damage Assessment Sectoral Analysis: Cultural Heritage (Sudan)
AFTER A CONFLICT
VR can be valuable after a conflict to facilitate psychological treatment and social support for refugees. For example, the Virtual Ukraine Project’s VR psychotherapy tool supplies treatment for PTSD for refugees from Ukraine. This example also highlights how immersive capabilities of VR can connect people across the globe in a place that looks like their home (virtually) for the purposes of social support.
Screenshot from Virtual Ukraine Project Metaverse Social Support Application. Metaverse location portrays the Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine. Avatars represent Ukrainian refugees.
Crowd-sourcing tools can be harnessed for post-conflict activities, such as holding governments accountable for human rights violations. The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran is focused on gathering evidence to hold perpetrators accountable in the context of the protests in Iran (starting in December 2025). The Fact-Finding Mission analyzes open-source videos and images, including from social media to determine whether there are human rights violations present. The goal is to preserve evidence of such violations for future use in legal proceedings.
CROSS-CUTTING TAKEAWAYS
Our analysis of these examples informed 3 cross-cutting takeaways:
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Impact of crowd-sourcing: Crowd-sourcing technologies function as both a method for monitoring trends and early warning systems. Whether reporting violence, misinformation, or hate speech, crowd-sourcing platforms and social media analysis allow anyone with a mobile device to contribute to the peace process. Real-time data collection from affected areas and communities can lead to more accurate trend analysis and tailored responses to conflict and pre-conflict events.
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Value of immersive technologies: Immersive technologies such as VR and MR can support training, healing and empathy. VR in particular can be used during all stages of the peace cycle by providing a low-risk realistic setting for those preparing for peace missions, or recovering after conflict.
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Rise of AI-powered conflict resolution: AI can scan and identify instances of online misinformation and hate speech much quicker than humans. Harnessing AI for moderation has already shown significant impact in making online spaces safer. However, it is important to train AI tools responsibly to ensure that moderation of misinformation or hate speech does not cross over into censorship of content.