Laura Galante profiles advanced cyber threats and network breaches and investigates the political, military and financial implications of cyber operations.

Efosa Ojomo researches and writes about how innovation transforms organizations and creates inclusive prosperity for many.

Danielle Wood leads the Space Enabled research group at the MIT Media Lab, where she works to tear down the barriers that limit the benefits of space exploration to only the few, the rich or the elite. She identifies six technologies developed for space exploration that can contribute to sustainable development across the world -- from observati...

Lakshmi Pratury is the host of The INK Conference and was the co-host of TEDIndia 2009.

Nandan Nilekani, the visionary co-founder of outsourcing pioneer Infosys, explains four brands of ideas that will determine whether India can continue its recent breakneck progress.

"I want you to reimagine how life is organized on earth," says global strategist Parag Khanna. As our expanding cities grow ever more connected through transportation, energy and communications networks, we evolve from geography to what he calls "connectography." This emerging global network civilization holds the promise of reducing pollution a...

You've never seen data presented like this. With the drama and urgency of a sportscaster, statistics guru Hans Rosling debunks myths about the so-called "developing world."

Speaking as both an astronomer and "a concerned member of the human race," Sir Martin Rees examines our planet and its future from a cosmic perspective. He urges action to prevent dark consequences from our scientific and technological development.

Jacqueline Novogratz shares stories of how "patient capital" can bring sustainable jobs, goods, services -- and dignity -- to the world's poorest.

Nancy Lublin, cofounder and former CEO of Crisis Text Line, uses technology and data to save lives.

Darren Walker is a leader in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors.

Alleviating poverty is more guesswork than science, and lack of data on aid's impact raises questions about how to provide it. But Clark Medal-winner Esther Duflo says it's possible to know which development efforts help and which hurt -- by testing solutions with randomized trials.

Kristalina Georgieva has helped shape the agenda of the European Union.

Americanization and globalization have basically been the same thing for the last several generations. But the US's view of the world -- and the world's view of the US -- is changing. In a fast-paced tour of the current state of international politics, Ian Bremmer discusses the challenges of a world where no single country or alliance can meet t...

Farmers stand at the center of the world, says Andrew Youn, cofounder of One Acre Fund, an agricultural organization that's empowering sub-Saharan farm families with the loans, seeds, fertilizer and training needed to increase crop yields and end hunger. Meet Therese Niyonsaba, a Rwandan farmer who shares how the program helped her family prospe...

The peatlands of Africa's Congo Basin are a vast expanse of swamp and greenery that act as one of the world's most effective carbon sinks -- and they're under threat of environmental destruction. Economist Vera Songwe explains how putting a price on the carbon stored in the peatlands would not only help protect this vital resource but also recog...

Marco Alverà is an Italian/American businessman and CEO of Snam, Europe’s largest natural gas utility.

A co-developer of the planetary boundaries framework, Johan Rockström works to understand Earth’s resilience.

The president of the United States from 1977 to 1981, Jimmy Carter has used his post-presidency years to work for peace, teach, write and engage in global activism.

Hongqiao Liu is an independent journalist and policy advisor who has been covering China’s environmental crisis and decarbonization since 2010. She writes Shuang Tan, a newsletter in which she decodes China’s climate and energy policies for the world.

To combat climate change, Varun Sivaram seeks to scale up clean energy technologies and cultivate innovation ecosystems spanning industry, academia and government.

Traditional thinking on corruption goes like this: if you put good laws in place and enforce them well, then economic development increases and corruption falls. In reality, we have the equation backwards, says innovation researcher Efosa Ojomo. In this compelling talk, he offers new thinking on how we could potentially eliminate corruption worl...

In a rich conversation full of practical insights, former Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard and former Finance Minister of Nigeria Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala reflect on their experiences as women leaders in positions of global power -- and share six standout lessons on what it takes to lead and build solidarity in the face of gender bias and st...

Today, we relate the human microbiome to what it can tell us about our own current health. In this fascinating talk, microbiologist Alisa Kazarina describes how cutting edge research at the crossroads of archaeology and microbiology can trace humanity's physical development while providing insight on how to treat contemporary diseases.

Tania Douglas imagined how biomedical engineering could help address some of Africa's health challenges.

Stefan Wolff studies contemporary conflicts, focusing on the prevention and settlement of ethnic conflicts and in postconflict reconstruction in deeply divided and war-torn societies.

Ashraf Ghani's passionate and powerful 10-minute talk, emphasizing the necessity of both economic investment and design ingenuity to rebuild broken states, is followed by a conversation with TED curator Chris Anderson on the future of Afghanistan.

The debate over foreign aid often pits those who mistrust "charity" against those who mistrust reliance on the markets. Jacqueline Novogratz proposes a middle way she calls patient capital, with promising examples of entrepreneurial innovation driving social change.

More than a billion people worldwide, mostly children, do not have a legal identity. In many countries, this means they can't get access to vital services like health care and education, says legal identity expert Kristen Wenz. She discusses why this problem is one of the greatest human rights violations of our time -- and shares five strategies...

Hard work, resilience and grit lead to success, right? This narrative pervades the way we think, says economist Darrick Hamilton, but the truth is that our chances at economic security have less to do with what we do and more to do with the wealth position we're born into. Enter "baby bonds": trust accounts of up to $60,000 for every newborn, ca...