Gerald Gahima
Former Deputy Chief Justice to the Rwanda Supreme Court
The Center for Applied Innovation
Colonel Bob Morris
U.S. Army (Ret’d), Founder and President
Partners International Foundation
The IED has become a very effective weapon for those advancing their cause through terror and violence. On average, excluding Iraq and Afghanistan, there are over three IED incidents daily around the world. This amounts to global epidemic of IED use. Military-focused solutions to have not been and will likely not be successful. The solution requires a holistic approach focusing on the myriad of public-private issues including critical infrastructure protection, cybercrime, cyberterrorism, domestic and international terrorism, extremism, and more.
This approach consists of three Core Elements using public, private, and military efforts where appropriate. The first is locally led focusing on the socio-economic, cultural, and other root causes that enable IED networks thereby neutralizing existing networks or preventing them from forming. The second element treats IED use as a crime. This moves IED use from a military problem to a law enforcement problem. The last element is fact-based information campaign. Two technology enablers supplement Core Elements: The IED Alert and Reporting System (IARS) and the IED Incident Tracker (IIT). Both make extensive use of mobile technologies based on the open source platforms and allow local civil societies to become involved in reporting and tracking IEDs. Assessments of Mexico, Nigeria and Globally linked IEDs to militancy, cyber crime, etc. In Nigeria both ex-militants and the government endorsed this innovative approach.
Learning Points:
1. A thorough understanding of the complexity and scope of the Global IED Threat; the emerging epidemic, and the need for a holistic public-private international solution.
2. Using the approach for law enforcement on the federal, state and local level to protect their communities and critical infrastructure from domestic and international terrorism, homeland security and a partnering in terrorism investigations.
3. The essential role and power of social media in combating the IED threat with its associated terrorism components and technology enablers available.