The central components of an interpersonal communication framework such as uncertainty reduction theory can be adapted to design and evaluate crisis communication addressing uncertainty between citizens needing access to services and organizations attempting to manage risk and ensure continuity of operations. Through a content analysis of organizational crisis communication during the COVID-19 pandemic, this article adapts uncertainty reduction theory as an applied, user-centered framework that can guide technical communicators in managing uncertainty during unprecedented crises.

This article examines the dynamics at play in ongoing efforts to cultivate negotiation capacity among professionals working in the humanitarian sector. Based on extensive semi‐structured interviews conducted with humanitarian practitioners, this article discusses six particular challenges that aid agencies face. The first is raising awareness across the aid sector that negotiation is a core competency of humanitarian action. The second is grappling with ambiguities around the definition of the term “humanitarian negotiation.” The third is cultivating an appreciation for the holistic range of negotiation capital that is necessary for success. The fourth is navigating the difficulties inherent in the experiential nature of negotiation capacity building. The fifth is discerning which lessons should be learned from past humanitarian negotiation practice. The sixth is mitigating negative unintended effects of directing professional and policy attention toward humanitarian negotiation capacity building. Through this examination, the article aims to assess the landscape of current humanitarian negotiation capacity‐building efforts, as well as the difficulties that humanitarian organizations will likely face on the road ahead.

Recent practical initiatives and academic research have signaled optimism for the use of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as an alternative model for education in the developing world. At the same time, anecdotal evidence and observation have pointed to a lack of courses offered in languages other than English as one potential challenge for global use of MOOCs. We present a first empirical attempt to characterize the linguistic diversity of MOOCs and understand the resulting implications for the use of MOOCs in international development. We find significant differences in quantities and types of MOOCs available in English and non-English languages. This finding indicates that MOOCs do not yet provide a broad array of educational opportunities for people without adequate English-language proficiency and therefore, MOOCs may have limited potential for use in international development outside English-speaking populations at present. In recognition of efforts to increase linguistic diversity of MOOC offerings, we review and describe two types of initiatives, those to translate existing MOOCs and those to create new MOOCs in non-English languages, initiatives we identify as scaling-up or scaling-down MOOCs respectively. To situate our findings in development discourse, we turn to Sen's capability approach (1999) to consider implications for the use of MOOCs in socioeconomic development. KeywordsMassive open online courses, MOOCs, information and communications technologies for development, ICT4D

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This paper discusses the opportunities and challenges present for the next generation analyst in the use of social media data. Focusing particularly on the detection of deception and misinformation within the latter, a review of current approaches is followed by the elaboration of a theoretical model for social media analysis premised on activity based intelligence. Considering this model with regard to latent challenges to analytical performance and potential opportunities for analytical calibration, this discussion articulates an approach for open-source, next generation intelligence analysis.