Today the launch of the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) took place for the first time in Czech Republic. In cooperation with the Metropolitan University and the Prague Society for International Cooperation we presented the latest trends in terrorism as quantified by the Institute for Economics and Peace. The launch event reached an audience from different backgrounds including diplomats, academics, the private sector, NGO’s and students.
Prof. Serge Stroobants, the European Representative of the Institute, presented the GTI and its most important developments in terrorism based. One of the remarkable developments in 2016 showed that overall the amount of deaths caused by terrorism attacks by non-state actors decreased. On the other hand, the terrorism group ISIS caused more deaths through terrorism attacks in 2016 than they did in the previous year. Other terrorist groups such as Boko Haram, who previously wore the crown of most lethal terrorism group, saw a decrease in the amount of deaths.
Prof. Oldrich Bures from the Metropolitan University gave a more academic and interpretive insight to the data presented by prof. Stroobants. This sparked plenty of opportunity to discuss, analyse and attain a deeper understanding of the Index. Dr. John Quin from the Prague Center for Global Health discussed how the data of the GTI could be applied by governments to accurately and efficiently allocate resources when it comes to counter-terrorism operations.