I’m Moses Karanja, an International Relations PhD student at The University of Toronto.
My research is on the co-evolution of technology and authority, with a focus on identification, payments, and network brokerage especially in the African region. I am also a research affiliate at The Citizen Lab, an interdisciplinary laboratory at the Munk School of Global Affairs focusing on research, development, and high-level strategic policy and legal engagement at the intersection of information and communication technologies, human rights, and global security.
Prior to joining The University of Toronto doctorate program, I worked as a program manager at Strathmore Law School, Kenya, on Information Technology & Society in the African region. I have also consulted with numerous research and policy organizations on technology, (in)security patterns, and human rights in the African region. I studied for my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees (Political Science and Security Studies) at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, and information, communication, and technology courses through KASNEB, Kenya.
I have published academic pieces and policy reports as part of research and advocacy work on human rights, elections, and security in the African region. Some of these include highlighting limits of authoritarian control on the Internet, unmasking deep packet inspection in Ethiopia as one of the techniques responsible for Internet censorship, monitoring Zambia 2016 elections from an information controls perspective, and an assessment of Internet freedom and digital resilience of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the Eastern Africa region. For more on research and publications, check out research projects & publications.
I have been awarded a Gandhi Smarak Nidhi Graduate Scholarship (2012), Open Technology Fund Information Controls Fellowship (2015), IDRC Fellowship (2017), and The University of Toronto International Student Fellowship (2017). I currently serve in unofficial advisory capacity to diverse development-focused and human rights organizations in the African region. I am always open to new ideas, experiments, and challenges so please contact me using jambo [@] moseskaranja [.] com