Robert Kirkpatrick is a social innovator working at the intersection of emerging technology, public policy, and social change. He is a seasoned practitioner and thought leader on responsible use of big data and artificial intelligence for managing risks related to sustainable development, humanitarian action and peace and is widely recognized for starting the global movement known as data philanthropy. In 2010, Robert became the founding Executive Director of UN Global Pulse, the United Nations Secretary-General’s innovation lab and led the program for 12 years. He built the first data science team at the UN, brokered global public/private partnerships, implemented more than 80 solutions for UN agencies and national institutions in dozens of countries, led development of UN's first policy instrument on privacy and data protection for the digital age, played a key role in shaping the UN's stance on the role of big data and AI in the achievement of the SDGs, risk management and crisis prevention, oversaw the creation of the UN Futures Lab and the COVID19 Crisis Insights Team, and was appointed to serve as a Commissioner on the UN Broadband Commission. Prior to joining the UN, Robert served as the founding CTO of Google's public health and disaster technology nonprofit, InSTEDD, co-founded and served as technical lead for the Humanitarian Systems Team at Microsoft, and was an early employee at two software startups. His current interests include risk management, conflict prevention, data governance, trustworthy AI, digital human rights, and our decentralized future.
