Abi Olvera

Oct 1, 2024 | thebulletin.org | Abi Olvera |Sara Goudarzi

A townsperson woke Carlos Restrepo in the middle of the night telling him to flee. Residents of El Pital wanted to kill Restrepo because of his political leaning. This was 1940s Colombia, the beginning of a decade-long civil war between the Colombian Conservative Party and the Colombian Liberal Party.

Jun 7, 2024 | thebulletin.org | Abi Olvera |Thomas Gaulkin |Sara Goudarzi

In 2018, Singapore planned to embed facial recognition cameras in lampposts for nationwide monitoring. But enabled a pivot to an even more powerful and nimble surveillance system—mobile sensors and cameras capable of observing citizens and catching them in the act of littering, with artificial intelligence handling the data analysis.

May 28, 2024 | medium.com | Abi Olvera

I've spent more than enough on $200+ travel gear, including some of Wirecutter's top picks. Now, I find Amazon's array of options more useful than those lists because you can cherry-pick the exact features you need. Take clamshell backpacks, for instance. They open from the middle, which is great for packing but terrible for turning into a daypack at your destination. I've also tried those compression cubes that double as a hangable closet - very cool but takes up too much space.

Apr 30, 2024 | cnas.org | Abi Olvera

Around the Table is a three-question interview series from the Make Room email newsletter. Each edition features a conversation with a peer in the national security community to learn about their expertise and experience in the sector. Abi Olvera is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Council on Strategic Risks (CSR) focusing on the AI-bio-cyber risks nexus and early biothreat detection. The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the position of CSR. 1.

Dec 31, 2023 | medium.com | Abi Olvera

When I was in my 20s, I didn’t think my life could get much better. I had big career wins but now in my 30s I’ve been wanting to more multidimensional wins. Below are my favorite things I did that I most people don’t realize they can do (inspired by “Things You’re Allowed to Do” post). • Get good at singing (by taking virtual lessons!) Unlike what most people believe, singing is a skill you deliberately build, just like a violin. I’ve been taking singing lessons now for three years.