In their words: Communication for development

This case study describes a partnership between the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and the telecommunications company MTN to develop a security and intelligence system for operations in volatile markets.

• The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) assisted MTN in creating the Situational Awareness and Integrated Response system (SAIR). This system utilizes open-source informatics and software to facilitate intelligence gathering and information flow, which improves security and reputation management for the company.
• The SAIR system allows MTN to collect intelligence from various media and social media sources, evaluate the regulatory environment, and improve briefings for decision-makers. This was supported by the ISS African Futures and Innovation section's ability to forecast socio-economic, security, and development indices.
• MTN operates in 22 countries across Africa and the Middle East, including several volatile or politically challenging states such as Nigeria, Liberia, Congo-Brazzaville, South Sudan, Côte D’Ivoire, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and Iran.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (2016). In their words: Communication for development. https://issafrica.org/impact/in-their-words-communication-for-development

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. In their words: Communication for development. 2016. https://issafrica.org/impact/in-their-words-communication-for-development.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=In their words: Communication for development |date=5 January 2016 |url=https://issafrica.org/impact/in-their-words-communication-for-development |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudies2016their, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{In their words: Communication for development}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2016}, month = jan, url = {https://issafrica.org/impact/in-their-words-communication-for-development}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }