About the Author: Paul A. Swider is a Foreign Service Officer in the Office of e-Diplomacy.

For an institution, such as the State Department ,to be seen playing games might raise an eyebrow or two, but last week’s Tech@State: Serious Games conference showed a crowd of nearly 200 that there’s real substance to play.

Steve York, a film- and game-maker, recounted recent conversations with Egyptian activists who last summer were playing York’s new People Power game. These activists had difficulty winning People Power’s civil-resistance simulation on the computer, but apparently the game enabled some powerful learning.

“They told me, ‘We lost the game but won the revolution’,” York said.

Tech@State events are quarterly networking conferences that examine the intersection of technology and diplomacy. This edition, focused on the constructive aims and mechanics of games and simulations, took place May 27-28 at the Jack Morton Auditorium… more »