The International Bar Association (IBA)-founded eyeWitness to Atrocities (eyeWitness) app and organisation have been shortlisted in the ‘tech for good’ category of the 2024 UK tech awards, amid an ever more difficult landscape of international conflicts. These awards celebrate outstanding achievement in this rapidly evolving sector and the ‘tech for good’ category highlights the non-financial benefits that technology can provide to society. Heidrick & Struggles has sponsored the category award, while JP Morgan is the overall sponsor of the awards.
For almost a decade eyeWitness has played a pivotal role in supporting frontline documenters in capturing images of potential international crimes and human rights violations to a standard required to be used as evidence in a court of law.
Created to address the verification issue around fake or tampered with images, the eyeWitness technology is free for anyone to download who is using an Android-enabled smartphone. The eyeWitness app is designed to automatically collect and embed into file information, GPS coordinates, date and time, sensory and movement data, and surrounding objects such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi networks. The user then uploads the images to a secure repository hosted by IBA partner LexisNexis.
Mark Ellis, IBA Executive Director commented: ‘We are honoured that eyeWitness has been shortlisted alongside fellow nominees that are doing such great work in the category of “tech for good”. The overriding mission of eyeWitness is to contribute to the pursuit of accountability for the gravest crimes in international law including war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. This award category raises awareness of technology being used for good by assisting in the gathering of potential evidence to bring to justice perpetrators of international crimes.’
‘We are honoured to be shortlisted for the tech for good award’, said Carrie Bowker, Director of eyeWitness. ‘This recognition highlights the critical role of eyeWitness’ technology in capturing authenticated audiovisual evidence of atrocity crimes. The success of eyeWitness is a powerful reminder that technology has the potential to break down barriers, even in the most challenging environments, and make a tangible impact in the pursuit of justice.'
Ian McDougall, President of LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation said: ‘The eyeWitness to Atrocities app is an innovative technological solution to a crucial Rule of Law issue; the provision of access to remedy is a key element of a prosperous and stable society. LexisNexis is proud to be a technology partner to the IBA to help to deliver this groundbreaking app.'
The eyeWitness organisation trains investigators in the use of the technology whilst building partnerships with human rights organisations to collate a catalogue of potential evidence. It supports documenters with guidance on how visual evidence can fit into their investigations and support the court process and connects them with other organisations that can help.
Since its launch in 2015, eyeWitness has submitted over 80 dossiers with 70,000 authenticated photos and videos of alleged atrocity crimes from high-risk regions, accompanied by essential metadata, to investigative bodies such as the International Criminal Court (ICC). In 2023 alone, 18,500 pieces of photo, video and audio footage from high-risk zones were captured.
All the shortlisted categories are available on the UK tech awards 2024 website. The winners will be announced at the Hotel Continental in London, United Kingdom on 14 November 2024.