Dr. Robert Muggah is a political economist focused on geopolitical risk, smart cities, digital safety and security, and climate tech and adaptation. He cofounded the Igarapé Institute, an award-winning think and do tank devoted to leveraging new technologies to tackle global challenges in 2010 . He’s also the co-founder and principal of SecDev Group, a cybersecurity and digital risk firm. He advises senior leadership in government and the private sector in Latin America, Eurasia, South Asia and Africa.
For two decades Robert has provided strategic advisory services to global energy and tech companies (Bytedance, Google, Meta), McKinsey’s, UN agencies, the IADB, IMF, and the World Bank. He is a non-resident fellow at Singularity University, Princeton University, the Graduate Institute in Geneva, the Chicago Council for Global Affairs, Bosch Foundation, and the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
At WEF, Robert served three terms on the Global Agenda Council on the Future of Cities and Councils devoted to humanitarian action and conflict prevention. He is an advisor to the Global Risk Report (2018-present). Robert is also a fellow with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime; Know Violence in Childhood Initiative, and Co-Chair of the Lancet Commission on Violence.
Robert provides keynote talks in a wide range of international audiences, including TED talks on fragile and resilient cities in 2019, 2017 and 2015. In 2023 he coordinated a TEDx event in the Amazon, bringing together over 50 speakers and 1,000 participants, including from all 8 countries in the region.
Robert is involved in a number of start-ups and is working on issues of AI governance. He is a co-founder of Bioverse, a forest data inventory company that leverages remote sensing and fixed wing drones to assess biodiversity abundance. He is also supporting SuperNature, a regenerative urban design studio that reimagines the future of cities. With support from GIF, Robert recently set-up a global task force on AI ethics and safety in 2022 which includes representatives from the Americas, Europe, Africa and South and Southeast Asia.
An avid map collector, Robert creates data visualizations and predictive analytics on homicide, arms, and cities, all of which have been featured by the BBC, CBC, CNN, FastCompany, Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, New York Times, Washington Post. and Wired. A columnist at Foreign Policy, he is the author of eight books, dozens of articles, most recently Terra Incognita: 100 Maps to Survive the next 100 Years (Penguin/Random House).
Robert has a PhD from the University of Oxford.
Poverty is often blamed for outbreaks of mob violence from Latin America to Africa – but a closer look shows elites are using and controlling disorder for their own political ends.
As the majority of the world's population moves to cities, will we see a shift in soft power away from nation states?
Alrededor del 7 por ciento de la población total huyó de la crisis política y económica del país desde el 2014.
Around the world, cities are teaching countries how best to adapt and succeed against the rising tide of vulnerable refugees.
Most smart city innovation has been focused on the world's wealthier urban centres rather than the developing world - but could they have it the wrong way round?
If sustainable urbanization is one of the paramount challenges of the 21st century, then Asia is ground zero for determining whether humanity can succeed.
Des signes inquiétants d’agitation croissante se manifestent aux quatre coins du monde. Le nombre de guerres civiles a doublé depuis 2001, passant de 30 à 70.
La course à la domination et, dans certains cas, à la militarisation des technologies d’avant-garde - y compris l'intelligence artificielle (AI) - est lancée.
Hay signos ominosos de creciente turbulencia en todo el mundo. La cantidad de guerras civiles se ha duplicado desde 2001, saltando de 30 a 70.
Las Naciones Unidas considera que las nuevas tecnologías pueden generar un cambio positivo aunque también pueden desatar un daño grave.
En 2025, habrá 100 ciudades africanas con más de un millón de habitantes.
Contrary to popular belief, economic growth does not necessarily lead to social change and institutional development. But with smarter tools, better investment and targeted support, there...
Les citoyens de l'Afrique, au nombre de 1,1 milliard, devraient probablement être deux fois plus d'ici 2050, et plus de 80 % de cette augmentation se produira dans les villes.
The United Nations must act wisely to make sure new tech unleashes positive change, not serious harm. It'll need all the help it can get.
If Africa does not find a way to build sustainable cities with greater access to private capital, then they risk becoming both unlivable and indebted. A new mindset is urgently required.
