Hertie School Digital Verification Corps

What Hertie School Digital Verification Corps does

The Hertie School Digital Verification Corps (DVC) is a volunteer-based educational initiative within Amnesty International's Crisis Response Programme, established at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin in September 2023 as the sixth member and first European Union partner in a global university network. The programme trains students from partner universities — also including UC Berkeley, Cambridge, Essex, Pretoria, and Universidad Iberoamericana — in open-source investigation (OSINT) methods for human rights research, including digital verification, remote sensing, geospatial analysis, data science, and crowd-sourcing. Student volunteers directly contribute to Amnesty International's research operations across conflict zones including Sudan, Ukraine, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Mexico, Iraq, Ethiopia, Venezuela, and the USA.

Technically, the DVC employs a stack of established digital investigation and geospatial tools (QGIS, Sentinel Hub, Google Earth Pro, Google Earth Engine, Blender, NASA VIIRS, SAR imagery) augmented by bespoke methodologies such as a three-layered clandestine grave detection framework combining Point Pattern Analysis, hyperspectral Nitrogen Accumulation Index analysis, and DBSCAN clustering. It also produces standalone tools (InVid-WeVerify browser plugin, YouTube Data Viewer) and immersive platforms like SMOKESCREEN (an Iraq tear gas investigation built with SITU Research). The Citizen Evidence Lab website (citizenevidence.org) serves as the open knowledge repository for methods, tools, and case studies.

The DVC has no commercial revenue model. It operates as a non-profit educational collaboration funded through Amnesty International and participating universities, with all student contributions provided on a volunteer basis. Distribution occurs through six university partnerships, annual summits, and the Citizen Evidence Lab content platform. The programme won the Times Higher Education Award for International Collaboration of the Year in November 2019. Pablo Maristany de las Casas is Founder and Coordinator of the Hertie School chapter, with Professors Başak Çalı and Anita Gohdes as faculty leads.

Name

Hertie School Digital Verification Corps

Legal name

Amnesty International

Website

https://citizenevidence.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Hertie School Digital Verification Corps is an Amnesty International university-network initiative based in Berlin that trains student volunteers in open-source human rights investigation methods — including digital verification, satellite imagery analysis, and geospatial forensics — to support Amnesty's research on human rights violations globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Educational/Non-profit Programme: The DVC is an educational initiative operated by Amnesty International in partnership with universities. It trains students in digital investigation skills and they contribute to human rights research on a volunteer basis. This is not a commercial enterprise.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Hertie School Digital Verification Corps trains students in open-source investigation methods (OSINT), digital verification, remote sensing, and data science, then channels student volunteer contributions directly into Amnesty International's human rights research operations. The initiative supports verification of videos, images, and satellite imagery documenting human rights violations globally, including work on conflicts in Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Iran, and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well as collaborative projects such as clandestine grave detection in Mexico.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Digital Verification Corps (DVC) A network of six universities collaborating with Amnesty International to train students in open-source investigation methods for human rights research. Student volunteers verify digital content (videos, photos, satellite imagery) to support investigations into human rights violations globally.
• Hertie School Digital Verification Corps Initiative The Hertie School's local DVC initiative, founded by Pablo Maristany de las Casas and led by faculty including Professors Başak Çalı and Anita Gohdes. Enables German and international students to work on open-source investigations for human rights research through Amnesty International.
• Citizen Evidence Lab Amnesty International's digital investigations team platform providing methodology resources, tools, case studies, and how-to guides for human rights organisations, researchers, investigators, students, and journalists conducting digital investigations.
• Digital Verification Methods Training Training programmes covering digital verification, data science, remote sensing, crowd-sourcing, and well-being methods for conducting human rights investigations.
• SMOKESCREEN Platform An immersive 3D platform developed in collaboration with SITU Research that synthesizes geolocated eyewitness footage and narrative for investigating Iraq's lethal use of tear gas grenades. Uses Blender for spatial reconstruction and 30cm-resolution satellite imagery.
• YouTube Data Viewer A free verification tool that extracts hidden data from YouTube videos including exact upload time and thumbnails, useful for determining original content when multiple copies exist.
• InVid-WeVerify Browser Plugin A free verification plugin for Chrome and Firefox providing keyframe extraction, metadata analysis, reverse image search, Twitter advanced search, magnifier, and forensic analysis capabilities. Funded by EU Horizon 2020 programme.

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 100 students annually contribute to Amnesty's human rights research
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability9 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• University of California BerkeleycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 September 2023One of the original DVC partner universities. UC Berkeley's Human Rights Center trains DVC student volunteers in open source investigation methods and graduates of the programme assist with training at other universities.
• University of CambridgecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 September 2023DVC partner university contributing to the global network of universities collaborating on human rights digital investigations.
• University of EssexcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 September 2023DVC partner university with student coordinators involved in the annual summit. Contributes students to human rights OSINT research.
• University of PretoriacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 September 2023DVC partner university based in South Africa, contributing to the global network of universities working on human rights digital investigations.
• Hertie School of GovernancecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 September 2023Berlin-based university, the sixth DVC member and first in the European Union. Brings research expertise in fundamental rights, emerging technologies and data science. Faculty leads include Professors Başak Çalı and Anita Gohdes.
• Universidad IberoamericanacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 October 2020Located in Mexico City, Iberoamericana joined as the seventh DVC partner providing a Latin American perspective. The interdisciplinary human rights programme has been committed to promoting justice since 1998.
• MnemonicminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLeading open-source human rights research organisation that participated in the 2023 DVC Summit, sharing methods and novel investigative practices with students.
• Forensic ArchitectureminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpen-source human rights research organisation that participated in the 2023 DVC Summit, contributing to panel discussions on digital investigation processes.
• Data CívicaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with Amnesty International's Crisis Evidence Lab on developing geospatial methodology to support search for missing persons and clandestine graves in Mexico.
• Elementa DDHHminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHuman rights organisation that partnered on the Mexico clandestine grave detection project using geospatial analysis, publishing results in June 2022.
• Centro GeominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch institution that collaborated on geospatial analysis project for locating clandestine graves in Baja California, Mexico.
• Amnesty InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe coordinating organisation of the DVC network. Provides training, methodology, and research projects for student volunteers. Manages the Evidence Lab platform.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Forensic Architecture: Research agency using architectural and digital evidence (3D reconstruction, spatial analysis) to investigate state violence and human rights violations. Directly comparable on the spatial/OSINT methodology axis and a documented DVC Summit participant.
• Bellingcat: Independent open-source investigations collective conducting OSINT research on conflict, human rights, and disinformation. Most directly comparable peer given shared methodology (digital verification, satellite imagery, video forensics) and overlapping contributor base in the human rights and journalism ecosystem.
• Mnemonic: Non-profit dedicated to open-source human rights research, particularly on Syria and conflict zones. Already a documented partner at the 2023 DVC Summit, operating in the same OSINT-for-accountability niche with comparable tooling and case output.
• Citizen Lab (University of Toronto): University-based interdisciplinary research lab investigating digital threats to human rights, including surveillance, censorship, and conflict-zone documentation. Closely comparable as a hybrid academic-NGO research unit producing OSINT-grade human rights evidence.
• Witness.org: Global NGO focused on using video and technology for human rights documentation. Comparable training-and-tooling mission aimed at activists and researchers, with overlapping video verification and digital evidence methodologies.

Broad incumbents

• ProPublica: Investigative journalism outlet routinely using OSINT, satellite imagery, and crowdsourced verification in accountability reporting. Methodologically comparable on digital verification though operating as a commercial non-profit newsroom rather than an academic training network.
• Human Rights Watch: Large international human rights organisation that incorporates digital evidence methods into investigations. Comparable end-user of student-produced OSINT outputs but operates as a broader advocacy and reporting body rather than an academic network.
• Amnesty International (parent): Parent organisation of the DVC programme. Comparable as the institutional consumer of DVC student research and the coordinating body of the Evidence Lab platform; serves as both sponsor and primary client.
• The New York Times Visual Investigations Team: Newsroom unit applying OSINT, satellite imagery, and 3D reconstruction (e.g., Ukraine, Mariupol theatre investigations) to verify war crimes and human rights abuses. Comparable methodology though embedded in commercial journalism rather than academia.

Emerging players

• Syrian Archive: Non-profit focused on preserving and verifying digital evidence from the Syrian conflict. Comparable verification and archival mandate, though narrower geographic scope than the DVC's global portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/amnesty
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hertie-school-digital-investigation-corps

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hertie School Digital Verification Corps