The Foreign Service Journal, October 2022

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2022 17 Site of the Month: https://liveuamap.com The appearance of a particular site or podcast is for information only and does not constitute an endorsement. L ive Universal Awareness Map, or Liveuamap, is an independent nongovernment global news website that stands out due to its innovative map-centric presentation that tracks conflict around the world. Created by a group of engineers and journalists during the Maidan protests in Kyiv in 2014, the initial goal of the project was to inform the public of real-time events taking place in Ukraine. While Ukraine is, once again, a primary focus for the website, it has expanded in an effort “to predict and prevent future conflicts, minimize the impact of disasters, and assist travelers around the world,” the website says. It now covers more than 30 regions and topics, offers translation into several languages, and can be accessed via its own app. The map is an interactive software based on Google Maps and open-source data. It identifies events related to protests, violent conflict, and military operations, relying primarily on social media geotags to determine the loca- tion. This is achieved with the help of an artificial intelligence web crawler, which filters relevant stories and transmits them to a group of analysts for fact-checking. Editors then determine which events should be displayed on the map in almost real time. Liveuamap is used by the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) to monitor ground incidents. For example, when HD was working on cease-fire agree- ments in Syria, it used Liveuamap to monitor the imple- mentation of the cease-fire and to assess the feasibility of humanitarian corridors. PARTNERSHIPFORPUBLICSERVICE&BOSTONCONSULTINGGROUP largest agencies. In 2012, State ranked 3rd on the list. Based on employee engagement and satisfaction rankings governmentwide and at individual departments and agencies, the 2021 data found NASA holds the num- ber one position, while the intelligence community ranks 4th. Of the 24 midsize agencies, USAID ranks 19th. The Agency for Global Media, home of Voice of America—characterized by The Washington Post as a punching bag during the Trump years—saw the most improved score among midsize agen- cies. It jumped 11.7 points from 2020 to a score of 64.7, taking it slightly above the overall federal government satisfac- tion score of 64.5. The Foreign Service Institute achieved a score of 79.7, up from 74.7 in 2020. Scores are based on responses to a series of prompts: “I recommend my organization as a good place to work”; “Considering everything, how satisfied are you with your job?”; and “Consider- ing everything, how satisfied are you with your organization?” The Partnership for Public Service began compiling the rankings in 2003. Support for Veterans at State I n response to a survey of veterans conducted by the State Department’s TalentCare department and veterans assistance working group, State has announced the launch of an internal program to assist the veterans it employs in navigating their post-military careers.