When Information Becomes Action: How social and political factors affect information technology (ICT) use during crisis

While information communication technologies (ICTs) have been innovatively used in crisis response and violence prevention by organizations for the last 7-10 years, there is relatively little theory and research into why and how these technologies affect socio-political aspects of crisis management, and how institutions are adapting their processes to make better use of ICTs. To address this, I do comparative surveys of ICT use during crisis in Kenya and Samoa at the individual level. This is then used as field data to interrogate the ways that aid and humanitarian institutions have integrated ICTs into their response programming, which builds our understanding of the political economy of organizational innovation and adaptation. This dissertation adds to the theoretical understanding of techno-social aspects of local violence prevention, while providing insights for practitioners and policy makers who are using ICTs in their violence prevention work.