UN Crime Congress: Technology is transforming crime – and the response to it

Sitting in her Vienna office ahead of a pivotal UN gathering in Abu Dhabi, Monica Juma is focused on a simple reality: crime has evolved faster than many of the institutions designed to combat it.Criminal networks now move money, goods and information across borders at lightning speed, exploiting everything from new technologies to global instability. Yet the same tools that help drive illicit activity could also transform the fight against it.Technology, while creating what Ms. Juma describes as “an ecosystem of criminal profiteering with a very far-reaching footprint”, can also enable faster, smarter and more coordinated responses to threats that increasingly touch every corner of the world.Those challenges – from cyber-enabled crime to trafficking and online scams – will be at the centre of discussions in Abu Dhabi at the 15th UN Crime Congress; the world's largest gathering focused on crime prevention and criminal justice. As the newly appointed Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Ms. Juma is preparing to attend the event for the first time in her current role.We sat down with her to discuss the criminal threats reshaping the world and th...