Roya Ensafi joins World Economic Forum Global Future Council focused on complex risks

Roya Ensafi, Morris Wellman Faculty Development Assistant Professor of computer science and engineering, has been selected to join the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Future Council on the Future of Complex Risks. The WEF Global Future Councils are an international initiative to combine the efforts of the world’s foremost thought leaders to study and address various thematic topics. Members of these councils are selected on an invitation-only basis and serve a two-year term.

The Council on the Future of Complex Risks is particularly focused on interconnected risk clusters with the aim of understanding and averting multiple, simultaneous crises–otherwise known as polycrises. Polycrises can lead to societal and economic instability on a global scale, and understanding what complex risks give rise to these events is essential to preventing their potentially catastrophic effects.

 The WEF identifies digital privacy and cybercrime as primary risk categories in its 2023 Global Risks Report. Ensafi brings invaluable expertise in these areas to the Council. She has a proven background in building techniques that protect users from online threats, including surveillance, disruption, and inequity, directly addressing an area of substantial global risk.

As part of the Council on the Future of Complex Risks, Ensafi will collaborate with other council members to compile insights that will inform WEF’s ongoing initiatives surrounding global risks. Her input will have a substantial influence on international efforts to better understand and design solutions for the prevention of internet splintering and fragmentation, the rise of censorship globally, and more.