Antonio Mugica

Last updated
Antonio Mugica Rivero
BornMay 1974
Caracas, Venezuela
Alma mater Universidad Simón Bolívar
Occupation(s)Founder and CEO of Smartmatic

Antonio Mugica (born May 1974) is the founder and CEO of Smartmatic, a multinational electronic voting company. He also previously served as the Director of Anoto Group AB and Director of Panagroup Corporation. [1]

Contents

Early life

Antonio Mugica was born in 1974. He graduated from the Universidad Simón Bolívar in Caracas, Venezuela, where he earned an Electrical Engineering degree. [1]

Career

In the late 1990s, Mugica along with two other Venezuelan colleagues, Alfredo José Anzola and Roger Pinate, created a system where thousands of inputs could be placed into a network simultaneously. Early trials of this system were used on ATMs in Mexico, though after the 2000 United States presidential election, they decided instead to dedicate the system toward electoral functions.[ citation needed ]

Mugica has been an advocate for electronic and internet voting, [2] election modernization, [3] and digital democracy. [4] Some of his views to bring in technological advancement in elections include: the need to create tools for engaging citizens through voting and participation in the governance process, [5] making voting more accessible, [6] making sure that comprehensive pre- and post-election audits become a common practice, [7] and the significance of investing in research and development in the election technology market. [8] [9]

In 2022, Mugica was named a Strategic Advisor on election technology to Oxford University's Programme on Democracy & Technology, which is managed through the university's Oxford Internet Institute. [10]

Smartmatic

Smartmatic formed out of the SBC organization that was owned 51% by Smartmatic, 47% Venezuelan state telecommunications organization CANTV and 2% by an affiliated company, [11] Bizta, also owned by the owners of Smartmatic, with a board member from the Bolivarian government during the time an industry-fostering loan from a government institution was in force. In 2004 Smartmatic was granted a contract worth $128 million with the CNE, the government's elections agency, to acquire its products (an automated voting system, voting machines and support services) for the Regional Elections scheduled for that year's 2nd semester. But then, after collecting the required number of citizens' signatures, the 2004 Venezuelan recall referendum was activated to remove Hugo Chávez from the presidency, and Smartmatic had to hastily tailor the Voting System to the changed requirements.[ citation needed ] [12]

Smartmatic's election technology has been used in local and national elections in Venezuela, the United States, Belgium, Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Estonia [13] and the Philippines.

SGO Corporation

In 2014, Mugica together with British Lord Mark Malloch-Brown announced the launching of the SGO Corporation Limited, [14] [15] a holding company headquartered in London whose primary asset is the election technology and voting machine manufacturer Smartmatic.

Lord Malloch-Brown became chairman of the board of directors of SGO since its foundation, [16] while Mugica remained as CEO of the new venture. They were joined on SGO’s board by Sir Nigel Knowles, Global CEO of DLA Piper, entrepreneur David Giampaolo and Roger Piñate, Smartmatic’s COO.

The aim of SGO, according to Mugica is "to continue to make investments in its core business (election technology), but it is also set to roll out a series of new ventures based on biometrics, online identity verification, internet voting and citizen participation, e-governance and pollution control.” [17]

Patents

As of 2016, Antonio Mugica holds 13 granted and over 10 pending patents in the United States. [18]

Personal life

Mugica has also dedicated time toward playing and composing music, [19] writing and collecting modern and contemporary art. [20]

In 2010, he wrote Húkiti-Túkiti-Tá, a children's book. [21] Written in verse, it is a story on healthy eating. The tale is about Hookity-Tookity-Tah, a wizard baker boy who uses his cooking magic to rid his town of a bullying dragon. [22]

Awards and recognition

Works

Related Research Articles

Electronic voting is voting that uses electronic means to either aid or take care of casting and counting ballots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Venezuela</span>

Elections in Venezuela are held at a national level for the President of Venezuela as head of state and head of government, and for a unicameral legislature. The President of Venezuela is elected for a six-year term by direct election plurality voting, and is eligible for re-election. The National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional) has 165 members (diputados), elected for five-year terms using a mixed member majoritarian system. Elections also take place at state level and local level.

Newsmax is an American cable news and digital media company founded by Christopher Ruddy in 1998. It has been variously described as conservative, right-wing and far-right. Newsmax Media divisions include its cable and broadcast channel Newsmax TV; its popular website Newsmax.com, which includes Newsmax Health and Newsmax Finance; and Newsmax magazine, its monthly print publication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Election Systems & Software</span>

Election Systems & Software is an Omaha, Nebraska-based company that manufactures and sells voting machine equipment and services. The company's offerings include vote tabulators, direct-recording electronic (DRE) machines, voter registration and election management systems, ballot-marking devices, electronic poll books, Ballot on Demand printing services, and absentee voting-by-mail services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Malloch Brown</span> President of Open Society Foundations since 2021

George Mark Malloch Brown, Baron Malloch-Brown is a British diplomat, communications consultant, journalist and former politician serving as president of Open Society Foundations since 2021, having previously served as Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations under Kofi Annan from April to December 2006. A former member of the Labour Party, he served as Minister of State for Africa and the United Nations in the Brown government from 2007 to 2009.

Sequoia Voting Systems was a California-based company that is one of the largest providers of electronic voting systems in the U.S., having offices in Oakland, Denver and New York City. Some of its major competitors were Premier Election Solutions and Election Systems & Software.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox Business</span> American business channel

Fox Business is an American conservative business news channel and website publication owned by the Fox News Media division of Fox Corporation. The channel broadcasts primarily from studios at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan. Launched on October 15, 2007, the network features trading day coverage and a nightly lineup of opinion-based talk shows.

An optical scan voting system is an electronic voting system and uses an optical scanner to read marked paper ballots and tally the results.

Smartmatic, or Smartmatic SGO Group, is a multinational company that builds and implements electronic voting systems. The company also produces smart cities solutions, identity management systems for civil registration and authentication products for government applications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominion Voting Systems</span> Electronic voting systems company

Dominion Voting Systems Corporation is a company that produces and sells electronic voting hardware and software, including voting machines and tabulators, in Canada and the United States. The company's headquarters are in Toronto, Ontario, where it was founded, and Denver, Colorado. It develops software in offices in the United States, Canada, and Serbia. Dominion produces electronic voting machines, which allow voters to cast their votes electronically, and optical scanning devices used to tabulate paper ballots. Dominion voting machines have been used in countries around the world, primarily in Canada and the United States. Dominion systems are employed in Canada's major party leadership elections, and across the nation in local and municipal elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Giampaolo</span>

David Anthony Giampaolo is the chief executive of Pi Capital, a London-based investor club. He is also a noted entrepreneur in the global health and fitness sector. He has been described as "London's most networked man" by The Times and other newspapers. He has co-founded or served on the board of several large businesses, including Fitness First, 24 Hour Fitness, Zumba and GlobalFit. He is a trustee of Speakers4Schools and a board member of UK technology firm Smartmatic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Philippine general election</span> Election in the Philippines on 2016

A general election in the Philippines took place on May 9, 2016, for executive and legislative branches for all levels of government – national, provincial, and local, except for the barangay officials.

Since the 2008 Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao general election, the voters in the Philippines have to shade the oval that was indicated before the candidate's name, and a voting machine manufactured by Smartmatic automatically counts each ballot as it is fed into it. The results are then printed as the election return and sent electronically to the city or municipal Board of Canvassers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Venezuelan Constituent Assembly election</span>

Constituent Assembly elections were held in Venezuela on 30 July 2017 to elect the members of the 2017 Constituent National Assembly. Unlike the 1999 Constituent National Assembly, which was assembled following a referendum, the 2017 election was convened by the presidential decree of President Nicolás Maduro. Smartmatic, the Venezuelan-owned company which provided the voting machines, stated that the results were tampered with by the CNE, and that the turnout was off by at least one million votes.

<i>Túkiti, crecí de una</i> Venezuelan TV series or program

Túkiti, crecí de una is a Venezuelan telenovela created by Ricardo Hernández Anzola for RCTV, and it that originally aired on Venezuelan broadcast channel RCTV from August 16, 2006 to January 23, 2007. It stars Dexiree Bandes, María Gabriela de Faría, Gabriel Mantilla, Eugenio Keller, Laura Chimaras, and José Ramón Barreto.

Biometric voter registration implicates using biometric technology, most of the times in addition to demographics of the voter, for polling registration and/or authentication. The enrollment infrastructure allows collecting and maintaining a database of the biometric templates for all voters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Lindell</span> American businessman, political activist, and conspiracy theorist (born 1961)

Michael James Lindell, also known as the My Pillow Guy, is an American businessman, political activist, and conspiracy theorist. He is the founder and CEO of My Pillow, Inc., a pillow, bedding, and slipper manufacturing company.

Scytl Election Technologies S.L.U. is a Spanish provider of electronic voting systems and election technology. Founded in 2001 in Barcelona, its products and services are used in elections and referendums across the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Philippine general election</span> National, provincial, and local elections in the country

The 2022 Philippine general election took place on May 9, 2022, for the executive and legislative branches of government at every level – national, provincial, and local – except for the barangay officials.

Alfredo José Anzola Jaumotte was a founder and the former CFO of Smartmatic, a multinational electronic voting company. Anzola was one of the architects of the SBC consortium, a strategic alliance between Smartmatic, the Bitza Corporation and Venezuela's telephone provider, CANTV, for managing the technology platform of elections in Venezuela.

References

  1. 1 2 "Executive Profile: Antonio Mugica". Bloomberg. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  2. ↑ "e-Democracy entrepreneur: 'Online voting will boom in coming years'". EurActiv.com. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  3. ↑ "Modern technology as key to restoring trust". IT Pro Portal. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  4. ↑ "Revolutionising the ballot box". Financial Times. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  5. ↑ "What Election Technology Actions Are Needed Now?". www.govtech.com. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  6. ↑ "Q&A: Smartmatic CEO Antonio Mugica on electronic voting". www.africanbusinessreview.co.za. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  7. ↑ Takala, Rudy (2017-02-02). "Technology is key to rebuilding trust in elections". TheHill . Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  8. ↑ "Interview with Antonio Mugica, CEO, Smartmatic". FindBiometrics. 2011-10-14. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  9. ↑ "Antonio Mugica". SGO Corporation. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  10. ↑ "DemTech | Antonio Mugica". demtech.oii.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  11. ↑ "urru.org". www.urru.org. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  12. ↑ "European Union Electoral Observation Mision Venezuela 2005" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ↑ "Estonian Voters Cast Ballots Online". FindBiometrics. 2015-03-04. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  14. ↑ "Smartmatic spins off new parent company, SGO, with British lord". BiometricUpdate. 2014-11-28. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  15. ↑ "Lord Mark Malloch-Brown to chair election technology group SGO". Financial Times. 24 November 2014.
  16. ↑ Miller, Robin. "Lord Mark Malloch-Brown, Chairman, SGO Corporation". www.globescan.com. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  17. ↑ "SGO, world's largest elections tech firm, launched". Upgrade Magazine. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  18. ↑ "Antonio Mugica Inventions, Patents and Patent Applications". Justia Patents Search. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  19. ↑ "We Are Smartmatic: Antonio Mugica, our CEO". We Are Smartmatic. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  20. ↑ "Why a Multinational CEO Doesn't Believe in Work-Life Balance". www.larryslist.com. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  21. 1 2 "Antonio Mugica". Smartmatic . Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  22. ↑ "Healthy Eating Children's Book: Antonio Mugica's Hookitty Tookitty Tah". 2013-07-15. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.