Leveraging Technology for Refugee Integration: How Can We Help?

Spurred by the military conflicts, refugees’ crisis has swept Europe by surprise. With a challenge of integrating refugees into hosting societies comes the question about the role that ICTs could play in the ongoing integration efforts. Indeed, unprecedented reliance of refugees on technology, especially smartphones, is an important distinction of the current refugees’ crisis. ICT may support integrative efforts undertaken by local authorities and other stakeholders. Nonetheless, the question how ICTs can be applied to support refugees and how detrimental effects for them and the hosting societies can be mitigated is difficult to answer. The panel discussion will be structured around four areas: (1) communication with the government; (2) social connectedness; (3) participation in educational programs; and (4) integration and social inclusion. The goal is to present the chances and challenges of ICT use by refugees on an operational level, and how ICT systems should be designed and culturally adapted.