César Hidalgo

{{short description|Chilean-Spanish-American physicist, author and entrepreneur}} {{Infobox scientist | image = x300px|Cesar Hidalgo | image_size = 230px | caption = Hidalgo in 2014 | birth_name = Cesar Augusto Hidalgo Ramaciotti | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1979|12|22}} | birth_place = Santiago, Chile | field = Complexity economics, Complex Systems, Network Science, Data Visualization | work_institution = Harvard (2008-2010) MIT (2010-2019) University of Toulouse (2019-2023) University of Manchester (2019-today) Toulouse School of Economics (2023-today) Corvinus University of Budapest (2023-today) | alma_mater = Universidad Catolica de Chile BSc, Notre Dame PhD | doctoral_advisor = Albert-László Barabási | thesis_title = Three empirical studies on the aggregate dynamics of humanly driven complex systems | thesis_year = 2008 | thesis_url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304213325/http://www.chidalgo.com/Papers/DissertationND_Final_Formatted.pdf | known_for = ''The Atlas of Economic Complexity'' Economic Complexity Index (ECI) ''The Product Space'' | awards = Lagrange Prize (2018), Webby Awards (2017, 2018 x2), Information is Beautiful Award (2017) | website = {{URL|http://chidalgo.com/}} }}

'''César Augusto Hidalgo Ramaciotti''' (born December 22, 1979) is a Chilean born, Chilean-Spanish-American<ref>{{cite tweet|number=1208135187332292609|user=cesifoti|title=With the US citizenship I complete a trio of nationalities that point to three different fundamental privileges: O… |date=20 December 2019}}</ref> physicist, author, and entrepreneur. He is a tenured professor at the department of social and behavioral sciences at the Toulouse School of Economics and director of the Center for Collective Learning, a multidisciplinary research laboratory with offices at the Toulouse School of Economics and at Corvinus University of Budapest. He is also an Honorary Professor at the University of Manchester's Alliance Manchester Business School. Hidalgo is known for pioneering the field of economic complexity by developing concepts and methods such as relatedness and the Economic Complexity Index. He is also known for the creation of public data infrastructure, as a co-creator of The Observatory of Economic Complexity, as well as several national scale economic data visualization platforms including Data USA, Data Mexico, and Data Saudi. Hidalgo works also on applied artificial intelligence and digital democracy. Before moving to France, to found the Center for Collective Learning, Hidalgo was a professor at MIT where he directed the Collective Learning group. He is also a founder and partner at Datawheel, a data visualization and distribution company.

Hidalgo works broadly in the field of collective intelligence. His contributions to the field includes the introduction of methods to measure economic complexity and relatedness, the study of people's perception of A.I., the study of collective memory, and the development of multiple data visualization platforms, including The Observatory of Economic Complexity, DataUSA,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Data USA |url=https://www.webbyawards.com/winners/2017/websites/general-website/government-civil-innovation/data-usa/?/ |access-date=2019-10-18 |website=The Webby Awards |language=en-US}}</ref> DataViva, DataMexico,<ref>{{Cite web |last=de la Rosa |first=Eduardo |date=2020-07-21 |title=Secretaría de Economía e Inegi lanzan plataforma Data México |url=https://www.milenio.com/negocios/secretaria-economia-inegi-lanzan-plataforma-data-mexico |access-date=2022-06-08 |website=Grupo Milenio |language=es-MX}}</ref> DataAfrica,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Data Africa |url=https://www.webbyawards.com/winners/2018/websites/general/government-civil-innovation/data-africa/ |access-date=2019-10-18 |website=The Webby Awards |language=en-US}}</ref> Pantheon, and Rankless, among others. He is the author of dozens of academic papers in complex systems, networks, and economic development, and has created applications of data science and artificial intelligence to understand urban perception and to explore the idea of augmented democracy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cesar A. Hidalgo |url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xhCWdtMAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao |access-date=2019-10-18 |website=Google Scholar Citations}}</ref>

Hidalgo has published four books. He co-authored The Atlas of Economic Complexity and How Humans Judge Machines <ref>{{Cite book|url=https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/how-humans-judge-machines|title=How Humans Judge Machines|last=Hidalgo, César A. et al., 1979-|year=2021|publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-04552-0}}</ref> together with teams of colleagues. He is also the author of Why Information Grows,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Why information grows: the evolution of order, from atoms to economies|last=Hidalgo, César A., 1979-|date=2 June 2015|publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0-465-04899-1|oclc=930076139}}</ref> and The Infinite Alphabet, and the laws of knowledge.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Infinite Alphabet, and the laws of knowledge|last=Hidalgo, César A., 1979-|date=6 November 2025|publisher=Allan Lane|isbn=978-0-241-65567-2}}</ref>

His work was honored with the Bicentennial Medial from the Chilean Congress in 2011, the Lagrange Prize in 2018, and the Centennial Medal from the University of Concepcion in 2019. His data visualization and distribution platforms include three Webbys, one Information is Beautiful award, and one Indigo Design Award.

==Early life and education==

Hidalgo was born in Santiago de Chile in 1979 to Cesar E. Hidalgo and Nuria Ramaciotti. His father was a publicist and journalist and his mother a K-12 school administrator. He has two siblings Caterina and Nuria.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

Hidalgo attended The Grange School until the age of fourteen. He completed his high school education at The British High School. From 1998 to 2003 he studied physics at Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. From 2004 to 2008 he obtained a PhD in physics from The University of Notre Dame with Albert-László Barabási as his PhD advisor. From 2008 to 2010 he was a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard University.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

==Economic complexity==

The Economic Complexity Index (ECI) is a method to estimate the availability of factors present in an economy without having to define them. While it was originally introduced using trade data, the method has been more recently validated using data on employment, patents, and research, showing that it can be applied to a wide variety of matrices summarizing productive structures. ECI estimates are based on a spectral approach introduced by Hidalgo and colleagues in 2009, and empirical studies have shown that it is a robust and reproducible predictor of future economic growth,<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Hidalgo |first1=César A. |last2=Hausmann |first2=Ricardo |date=2009-06-30 |title=The building blocks of economic complexity |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=106 |issue=26 |pages=10570–10575 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0900943106 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=705545 |pmid=19549871|arxiv=0909.3890 |bibcode=2009PNAS..10610570H |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hausmann |first1=Ricardo |last2=Hidalgo |first2=César A. |last3=Bustos |first3=Sebastián |last4=Coscia |first4=Michele |last5=Chung |first5=Sarah |last6=Jimenez |first6=Juan |last7=Simoes |first7=Alexander |last8=Yildirim |first8=Muhammed A. |title=The Atlas of Economic Complexity: Mapping Paths to Prosperity |publisher=The MIT Press |year=2014 |url=https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/3014/The-Atlas-of-Economic-ComplexityMapping-Paths-to |doi=10.7551/mitpress/9647.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-262-31771-9 }}</ref>, including subnational applications such as Mexico.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chávez |first1=Juan Carlos |last2=Mosqueda |first2=Marco T. |last3=Gómez-Zaldívar |first3=Manuel |date=2017 |title=Economic Complexity and Regional Growth Performance: Evidence from the Mexican Economy |journal=Review of Regional Studies |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=201–219 |doi=10.52324/001c.8023 |url=https://rrs.scholasticahq.com/article/8023-economic-complexity-and-regional-growth-performance-evidence-from-the-mexican-economy |doi-access=free }}</ref> or historical reconstructions using alternative data sources.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Domini |first=Giacomo |date=2022 |title=Patterns of specialization and economic complexity through the lens of universal exhibitions, 1855–1900 |journal=Explorations in Economic History |volume=83 |article-number=101421 |doi=10.1016/j.eeh.2021.101421 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0014498321000437 }}</ref>

In recent work, researchers have expanded economic complexity beyond trade. For example, services have been incorporated into complexity measures and shown to add information relevant for growth predictions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stojkoski |first1=Viktor |last2=Utkovski |first2=Zoran |last3=Kocarev |first3=Ljupco |date=2016-08-25 |title=The Impact of Services on Economic Complexity: Service Sophistication as Route for Economic Growth |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=11 |issue=8 |article-number=e0161633 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0161633 |doi-access=free |arxiv=1604.06284 |bibcode=2016PLoSO..1161633S }}</ref> Multidimensional approaches have also combined trade-based measures with economic complexity measures derived from patents and research publications, improving the ability of complexity metrics to explain variations in growth and other development outcomes, such as income inequality <ref>{{Cite journal|date=2017-05-01|title=Linking Economic Complexity, Institutions, and Income Inequality|journal=World Development|language=en|volume=93|pages=75–93|doi=10.1016/j.worlddev.2016.12.020|issn=0305-750X|arxiv=1505.07907|last1=Hartmann|first1=Dominik|last2=Guevara|first2=Miguel R.|last3=Jara-Figueroa|first3=Cristian|last4=Aristarán|first4=Manuel|last5=Hidalgo|first5=César A.|s2cid=45386522}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hidalgo |first=César A. |date=2023 |title=The policy implications of economic complexity |journal=Research Policy |volume=52 |issue=8 |article-number=104784 |doi=10.1016/j.respol.2023.104784 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048733323001476 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and greenhouse gas emissions .<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stojkoski |first1=Viktor |last2=Koch |first2=Philipp |last3=Hidalgo |first3=César A. |date=2023 |title=Multidimensional economic complexity and inclusive green growth |journal=Communications Earth & Environment |volume=4 |issue=1 |article-number=130 |doi=10.1038/s43247-023-00770-0 |arxiv=2209.08382 |bibcode=2023ComEE...4..130S |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-023-00770-0 }}</ref> Economic complexity has also received attention in the popular press, including coverage by *The Economist*<ref>{{Cite news |date=2010-02-04 |title=Diversity training |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2010/02/04/diversity-training |access-date=2022-06-08 |issn=0013-0613}}</ref> and *The New York Times*,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harford |first=Tim |date=2011-05-11 |title=The Art of Economic Complexity |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/05/15/magazine/art-of-economic-complexity.html?_r=0 |access-date=2022-06-08 |website=The New York Times}}</ref> which have discussed its implications for economic development and policy.

==Books==

=== ''The Atlas of Economic Complexity'' (2011, 2014) ===

''The Atlas of Economic Complexity: Mapping Paths to Prosperity'' is a collaborative book that presents a data-driven framework for understanding economic development through the lens of productive capabilities and network science. The book introduces visual representations of international trade data, including the Product Space, to explain patterns of diversification and structural transformation across countries. First released in 2011 and expanded in a second edition published by MIT Press in 2014, the Atlas has been used by researchers, policymakers, and international organizations as a reference for development analysis.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hausmann |first1=Ricardo |last2=Hidalgo |first2=César A. |last3=Bustos |first3=Sebastián |last4=Coscia |first4=Michele |last5=Chung |first5=Sarah |last6=Jimenez |first6=Juan |last7=Simoes |first7=Alexander |last8=Yildirim |first8=Muhammed A. |title=The Atlas of Economic Complexity: Mapping Paths to Prosperity |publisher=The MIT Press |year=2014 |doi=10.7551/mitpress/9647.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-262-31771-9 |url=https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/3014/The-Atlas-of-Economic-ComplexityMapping-Paths-to }}</ref> The ideas and visualizations developed for the Atlas have also been disseminated through online platforms and public data tools.

=== ''Why Information Grows'' (2015) ===

In ''Why Information Grows: The Evolution of Order, from Atoms to Economies'', Hidalgo explains economic growth as a consequence of the accumulation of information and computation in physical and social systems. The book connects concepts from information theory, physics, and economics to argue that economic development depends on the ability of societies to embed computation in networks of people and institutions.

Following its release, the book received positive attention from economists and science writers, including Paul Romer,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-07-08 |title=Why Information Grows |url=https://paulromer.net/why-information-grows/ |website=Paul Romer}}</ref> Eric Beinhocker,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Beinhocker |first=Eric |date=2015-06-12 |title='Why Information Grows: The Evolution of Order, from Atoms to Economies', by César Hidalgo |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/36cad2c0-1038-11e5-ad5a-00144feabdc0}}</ref> and Tim Harford.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-06-23 |title=Teamwork gives us added personbyte |url=https://timharford.com/2015/06/teamwork-gives-us-added-personbyte/ |website=Tim Harford}}</ref> The book was also reviewed in *The Economist*,<ref>{{Cite news |date=2015-07-23 |title=Multiplier effects |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2015/07/23/multiplier-effects}}</ref> *Nature*,<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1038/521420a |title=Information theory: Knowledge and know-how |journal=Nature |volume=521 |issue=7553 |pages=420–421 |year=2015 |last1=Ball |first1=Philip |bibcode=2015Natur.521..420B }}</ref> and *Kirkus Reviews*.<ref>{{Cite web |title=WHY INFORMATION GROWS by César Hidalgo |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/cesar-hidalgo/why-information-grows/ |website=Kirkus Reviews}}</ref>

=== ''How Humans Judge Machines'' (2021) ===

In ''How Humans Judge Machines'', Hidalgo examines how people evaluate artificial intelligence systems by comparing how people react to the same action when this is performed by a human or an AI. Drawing on over 80 scenarios, the book studies how humans judge machines in the context of accidents, labor displacement, fairness, and privacy. It concludes that people judge human and machines through different "moral functions," judging humans by their intentions and machines by their outcomes. This generates a gap in moral judgment that biases people against machines in the case of accidents.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hidalgo |first=César A. |year=2021 |title=How Humans Judge Machines |publisher=MIT Press |url=https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262542361/how-humans-judge-machines/}}</ref>

=== ''The Infinite Alphabet'' (2025) ===

''The Infinite Alphabet, and the laws of knowledge'' is a solo-authored book by Hidalgo that explores the principles governing how societies grow, diffuse, and value knowledge. Unlike his previous book, The Infinite Alphabet draws on dozens of historical examples, making the book relevant for innovation policy.

==Data visualization and distribution platforms==

===Economic Data Observatories===

Hidalgo has co-developed a family of open data visualization and distribution platforms that integrate large public datasets and make them accessible through interactive profiles, maps, and network visualizations. Early work includes the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC, 2011), an online platform for exploring the geography and dynamics of global trade and productive capabilities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Projects {{!}} Discover Data Insights – Get Started Today |url=https://www.datawheel.us/projects |website=Datawheel}}</ref> Visualizations associated with economic complexity have been featured in outlets such as ''The Economist'' and ''The New York Times''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2010-02-04 |title=Diversity training |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2010/02/04/diversity-training |access-date=2022-06-08 |issn=0013-0613}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-05-15 |title=The Art of Economic Complexity |url=https://timharford.com/2011/05/the-art-of-economic-complexity-new-york-times-magazine/ |website=Tim Harford}}</ref>

Through subsequent collaborations—often implemented through Datawheel—these platforms have been extended to national and subnational contexts, including Brazil's DataViva (2013),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Howard |first=Alexander |date=2015-06-18 |title=Brazilian Data Visualization Platform Brings Numbers To Life, Aims To Make Traditional Reports 'Obsolete' |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dataviva-open-data_n_7604912 |access-date=2022-06-08 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ferro |first=Shaunacy |date=2013-12-04 |title=New MIT Media Lab Tool Lets Anyone Visualize Unwieldy Government Data |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/3022701/new-mit-media-lab-tool-lets-anyone-visualize-unwieldy-government-data/ |access-date=2022-06-08 |website=Fast Company |language=en-US}}</ref> the United States' Data USA (2016),<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/technology/datausa-government-data.html |title=Website Seeks to Make Government Data Easier to Sift Through |first=Steve |last=Lohr |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2016-04-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Misra |first=Tanvi |date=2016-04-04 |title=The One-Stop Digital Shop for Digestible Data on Your City |newspaper=Bloomberg |url=http://www.citylab.com/tech/2016/04/this-new-data-tool-brings-city-data-to-the-surface/476661/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/3058589/how-an-mit-data-viz-guru-is-cracking-open-cryptic-government-data |title=How An MIT Data Viz Guru Is Exposing Cryptic Government Data |first=John |last=Brownlee |date=2016-04-05 |website=Fast Company}}</ref> and additional country platforms such as DataAfrica, DataChile, and DataMexico.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Projects {{!}} Discover Data Insights – Get Started Today |url=https://www.datawheel.us/projects |website=Datawheel}}</ref> Data USA received a 2016 Kantar Information is Beautiful Award and a 2017 Webby Award (Government & Civil Innovation).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Data USA |url=https://www.informationisbeautifulawards.com/showcase/1186-data-usa |website=Information is Beautiful Awards}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Data USA |url=https://winners.webbyawards.com/2017/websites-and-mobile-sites/features-design/technical-achievement/17634/data-usa |website=The Webby Awards}}</ref> Data Africa won a 2018 Webby Award (Government & Civil Innovation).<ref>{{Cite web |title=2018 Award Winners |url=https://www.ifpri.org/award-winners/2018-award-winners/ |website=International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)}}</ref> DataChile received an Indigo Design Award (2018).<ref>{{Cite web |title=DataChile Indigo Award winner 2018 |url=https://www.indigoaward.com/winners/524 |website=Indigo Award}}</ref>

In the 2020s, Hidalgo has continued to support the development of related platforms focused on economic structure and cross-border production networks. These include DataSaudi, a public platform developed with Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Economy and Planning to support data-driven policymaking aligned with Vision 2030,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-12-18 |title=Ministry of Economy and Planning Launches Beta Version of Data Saudi Mobile Application |url=https://mep.gov.sa/en/media-center/news/Ministry-of-Economy-and-Planning-Launches-Beta-Version-of-Data-Saudi-Mobile-Application |website=Ministry of Economy and Planning (Saudi Arabia)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Projects {{!}} Discover Data Insights – Get Started Today |url=https://www.datawheel.us/projects |website=Datawheel}}</ref> the ''Mapa de complejidad económica de España'' created with Fundación Cotec (complejidadeconomica.cotec.es),<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-03 |title=Mapa de complejidad económica de España 2023 |url=https://cotec.es/proyectos-cpt/mapa-de-complejidad-economica-de-espana-2023/ |website=Fundación Cotec}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-22 |title=Cuentas Anuales Cotec 2023 |url=https://cotec.es/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Cuentas-Anuales-Cotec_-2023.pdf |website=Fundación Cotec}}</ref> and Border Value, an interactive site on U.S.–Mexico co-production developed with support from the Open Society Foundations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Projects {{!}} Discover Data Insights – Get Started Today |url=https://www.datawheel.us/projects |website=Datawheel}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-31 |title=From Scale to Systems: A Playbook for U.S.–Mexico Integration |url=https://thedialogue.org/blogs/2025/10/from-scale-to-systems-a-playbook-for-u-s-mexico-integration/ |website=The Dialogue}}</ref>

=== Team Communication Data ===

====Immersion (2013) and Open Teams (2019)==== Immersion is a data visualization engine for email metadata. Immersion helps uncover the networks people form while interacting through email. Immersion was co-authored by Hidalgo together with Daniel Smilkov and Deepak Jagsdish, while both Smilkov and Jagdish were working as students in Hidalgo's Macro Connections group. Immersion was released in 2013, and quickly became popular as a way to demonstrate what people can learn by looking only at email metadata.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hill |first=Kashmir |date=2013-07-10 |title=Here's A Tool To See What Your Email Metadata Reveals About You |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/07/10/heres-a-tool-to-see-what-your-email-metadata-reveals-about-you/ |access-date=2022-06-08 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Abramson |first=Larry |date=2013-08-22 |title=How A Look At Your Gmail Reveals The Power Of Metadata |url=https://text.npr.org/214172709 |access-date=2022-06-08 |website=NPR}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Riesman |first=Abraham |date=2013-06-30 |title=What your metadata says about you |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2013/06/29/what-your-metadata-says-about-you/SZbsH6c8tiKtdCxTdl5TWM/story.html |access-date=2022-06-08 |website=The Boston Globe |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Subbaraman |first=Nidhi |date=2013-07-08 |title=Take a peek at your email metadata ... before the feds do |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/technolog/take-peek-your-email-metadata-feds-do-6C10569544 |access-date=2022-06-08 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref>

Immersion was then rebuilt and expanded by Jingxian Zhang during her master's thesis work in Hidalgo's group at the MIT Media Lab to create [https://github.com/CenterForCollectiveLearning/OpenTeams Open Teams], a visualization suite for communication data designed for teams.

=== Collective Memory ===

==== Pantheon (2013) ==== Pantheon<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pantheon - Mapping Historical Cultural Production |url=http://pantheon.media.mit.edu/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330043133/http://pantheon.media.mit.edu/ |archive-date=2019-03-30 |access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref> is a data visualization engine focused on historical cultural production and impact. Pantheon helps users explore metadata on globally famous biographies as a means to understand the process of collective memory and of the role of languages and communication technologies in the production and diffusion of cultural information. Amy Yu, Kevin Hu, and Cesar Hidalgo developed pantheon in the Macro Connections group at MIT.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Garner |first=Dwight |date=2014-03-14 |title=Who's More Famous Than Jesus? |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/magazine/whos-more-famous-than-jesus.html |access-date=2022-06-08 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Rhodes|first=Margaret|title=MIT Media Lab Maps History's Biggest Celebrities|magazine=Fast Company|date=March 25, 2014|url=http://www.fastcodesign.com/3027817/mit-media-lab-maps-historys-biggest-celebrities}}</ref>

=== Academic Impact ===

==== Rankless (2024) ====

[https://rankless.org Rankless] is a data visualization platform that allows people to explore the publication impact of countries, universities, journals, and scholars. Unlike other academic impact projects, Rankless skews away from the concept of rankings by showing impact that is specific to topics and geographies. Rankless was developed by Endre Borza, an economist and data scientist, working in Hidalgo's Center for Collective Learning at Corvinus University of Budapest.

== Urban Perception ==

===Place Pulse, Streetscore, and Streetchange===

Place Pulse, Streetscore, and Streetchange are tools created to map people's perceptions of urban environments. Place Pulse has been featured in ''The Guardian''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rose |first=Steve |date=2011-08-19 |title=Place Pulse: a new website rates city safety |url=http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/aug/19/place-pulse-website-city-safety |access-date=2022-06-08 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref> and ''Fast Company''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/1664885/mits-place-pulse-a-hot-or-not-for-cities-to-fix-broken-blocks|title=MIT's Place Pulse: A "Hot Or Not" For Cities, To Fix Broken Blocks|first=Suzanne|last=LaBarre|date=November 22, 2013|website=Fast Company}}</ref> Streetscore has been featured in ''The Economist''<ref>{{Cite news |last=B. |first=N. |date=August 29, 2014 |title=How to find safe streets |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/gulliver/2014/08/29/how-to-find-safe-streets}}</ref> and ''New Scientist'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hodson |first=Hal |date=2014-06-18 |title=Spot-the-difference software maps city's mean streets |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22229744-100-spot-the-difference-software-maps-citys-mean-streets/ |website=New Scientist}}</ref> among others.

== Augmented Democracy ==

In 2018, Hidalgo presented at TED the idea of '''augmented democracy''', proposing that citizens could be represented in some decision-making processes by personalized digital agents (or "digital twins") supported by artificial intelligence.<ref>{{Cite web |title=César Hidalgo: A bold idea to replace politicians |url=https://www.ted.com/talks/cesar_hidalgo_a_bold_idea_to_replace_politicians |website=TED |date=5 March 2019 }}</ref> The proposal has been discussed in public debate about the role of AI and digital twins in democratic participation and governance.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-04-23 |title=Artificial intelligence's march to the ballot box |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/artificial-intelligence-s-march-to-the-ballot-box/46556718 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch}}</ref>

In 2024, Hidalgo and collaborators were awarded an ERC Synergy Grant for the project '''ADDI''' (''Advancing Digital Democratic Innovation''), which studies digitally augmented forms of civic participation, including preference elicitation and the design and evaluation of participation platforms.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-11-05 |title=Synergy Grants 2024: Examples of projects |url=https://erc.europa.eu/news-events/news/synergy-grants-2024-examples-projects |website=European Research Council}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-28 |title=Advancing Digital Democratic Innovation (ADDI) |url=https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101166894 |website=CORDIS}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-11-05 |title=César Hidalgo awarded an ERC Synergy Grant |url=https://www.tse-fr.eu/cesar-hidalgo-awarded-erc-synergy-grant |website=Toulouse School of Economics}}</ref>

Hidalgo has also participated in the creation of civic participation platforms designed to collect structured information about citizens' policy preferences, including '''MonProgramme2022''', developed during the 2022 French presidential election,<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-03-29 |title=Présidentielle 2022: élaborée à Toulouse, une plateforme permet aux citoyens de construire leur programme |url=https://www.latribune.fr/innovation/recherche-et-developpement/2022-03-29/presidentielle-2022-elaboree-a-toulouse-une-plateforme-permet-aux-citoyens-de-construire-leur-programme-907142.html |work=La Tribune}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-29 |title=Lets Citizens Build Their Own Government Programs |url=https://aniti.univ-toulouse.fr/en/2022/03/29/elaboree-a-toulouse-au-sein-daniti-une-plateforme-permet-aux-citoyens-de-construire-leur-programme/ |website=ANITI}}</ref> and '''Brazucracia''', an online experiment conducted during Brazil's 2022 presidential election and has used this data to explore simple forms of augmented democracy <ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gudiño |first1=Jairo F. |last2=Grandi |first2=Umberto |last3=Hidalgo |first3=César A. |date=2024 |title=Large language models (LLMs) as agents for augmented democracy |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A |volume=382 |issue=2285 |article-number=20240100 |doi=10.1098/rsta.2024.0100 |arxiv=2405.03452 |bibcode=2024RSPTA.38240100G |url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.2024.0100}}</ref> and to introduce measures of political '''divisiveness'''designed to identify proposals that generate unusually high disagreement among participants in preference-elicitation platforms.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Navarrete |first1=Carlos |last2=Macedo |first2=Mariana |last3=Colley |first3=Rachael |last4=Zhang |first4=Jingling |last5=Ferrada |first5=Nicole |last6=Mello |first6=Maria Eduarda |last7=Lira |first7=Rodrigo |last8=Bastos-Filho |first8=Carmelo |last9=Grandi |first9=Umberto |last10=Lang |first10=Jérôme |last11=Hidalgo |first11=César A. |date=2024 |title=Understanding political divisiveness using online participation data from the 2022 French and Brazilian presidential elections |journal=Nature Human Behaviour |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=137–148 |doi=10.1038/s41562-023-01755-x |pmid=37973828}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=McDermott |first1=Amy |date=2023-12-01 |title=Study identifies most divisive issues among voters, highlighting how controversial topics could drive the outcome |url=https://www.pnas.org/post/journal-club/study-identifies-most-divisive-issues-among-voters-highlighting-controversial-topics-could-drive-outcome |website=PNAS}}</ref>

==Bibliography== {{Wikiquote}}A full list of books and publications can be found in [http://chidalgo.com Cesar Hidalgo's professional page]

===Books=== *''How Humans Judge Machines'' MIT Press (2021), {{ISBN|9780262045520}} *''Why Information Grows: The Evolution of Order from Atoms to Economies'' Basic Books, New York (2015) {{ISBN|978-0465048991}} *''The Atlas of Economic Complexity'' MIT Press (2014), {{ISBN|9780262525428}} *''The Infinite Alphabet: And the Laws of Knowledge'' Allen Lane, London (2025) {{ISBN|978-0241655672}} {{ISBN|0241655676}}

==Selected articles==

*{{cite journal |last1=Hidalgo |first1=C. A. |last2=Klinger |first2=B. |last3=BarabáSi |first3=A.-L. |last4=Hausmann |first4=R. |title=The Product Space Conditions the Development of Nations |journal=Science |date=2007 |volume=317 |issue=5837 |pages=482–487 |doi=10.1126/science.1144581 |pmid=17656717 |arxiv=0708.2090 |bibcode=2007Sci...317..482H }} *{{cite journal |last1=González |first1=Marta C. |last2=Hidalgo |first2=César A. |last3=Barabási |first3=Albert-László |title=Understanding individual human mobility patterns |journal=Nature |date=2008 |volume=453 |issue=7196 |pages=779–782 |doi=10.1038/nature06958 |pmid=18528393 |arxiv=0806.1256 |bibcode=2008Natur.453..779G }} *{{cite journal |last1=Hidalgo |first1=César A. |last2=Hausmann |first2=Ricardo |title=The building blocks of economic complexity |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=2009 |volume=106 |issue=26 |pages=10570–10575 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0900943106 |doi-access=free |pmid=19549871 |pmc=2705545 |arxiv=0909.3890 |bibcode=2009PNAS..10610570H }} *{{cite journal |last1=Hausmann |first1=Ricardo |last2=Hidalgo |first2=César A. |title=The network structure of economic output |journal=Journal of Economic Growth |date=2011 |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=309–342 |doi=10.1007/s10887-011-9071-4 |bibcode=2011JEcGr..16..309H }} *{{cite journal |last1=Salesses |first1=Philip |last2=Schechtner |first2=Katja |last3=Hidalgo |first3=César A. |title=The Collaborative Image of the City: Mapping the Inequality of Urban Perception |journal=PLOS ONE |date=2013 |volume=8 |issue=7 |article-number=e68400 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0068400 |doi-access=free |pmid=23894301 |pmc=3722224 |bibcode=2013PLoSO...868400S }} *{{cite journal |last1=Ronen |first1=Shahar |last2=Gonçalves |first2=Bruno |last3=Hu |first3=Kevin Z. |last4=Vespignani |first4=Alessandro |last5=Pinker |first5=Steven |last6=Hidalgo |first6=César A. |title=Links that speak: The global language network and its association with global fame |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=2014 |volume=111 |issue=52 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1410931111 |doi-access=free |pmid=25512502 |bibcode=2014PNAS..111E5616R }} *{{cite journal |last1=Hidalgo |first1=César A. |title=Economic complexity theory and applications |journal=Nature Reviews Physics |date=2021 |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=92–113 |doi=10.1038/s42254-020-00275-1 |bibcode=2021NatRP...3...92H }} *{{cite journal |last1=Stojkoski |first1=Viktor |last2=Koch |first2=Philipp |last3=Hidalgo |first3=César A. |title=Multidimensional economic complexity and inclusive green growth |journal=Communications Earth & Environment |date=2023 |volume=4 |issue=1 |article-number=130 |doi=10.1038/s43247-023-00770-0 |arxiv=2209.08382 |bibcode=2023ComEE...4..130S }} *{{cite journal |last1=Hidalgo |first1=César A. |title=The policy implications of economic complexity |journal=Research Policy |date=2023 |volume=52 |issue=9 |article-number=104863 |doi=10.1016/j.respol.2023.104863 |url=https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6977-9492 }}

==References==

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hidalgo, Cesar A.}} Category:Living people Category:Chilean scholars and academics Category:1979 births Category:People from Santiago, Chile Category:Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni Category:University of Notre Dame alumni Category:MIT Media Lab people Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty Category:Network scientists Category:People associated with the concept of government by algorithm