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Focuses on reimagining the future of cities to become more inclusive, resilient and 
dynamic.

Joy Chadika (L) and Nadimeh Mehra, Vice President, District 2020 Transition Unit (R) speaks at the World Cities Day event m7594

Nadimeh Mehra, Vice President, District 2020 Transition Unit speaks at the World Cities Day event m7591

Urbanist Ahmed Bin Shabib speaks at the World Cities Day event m7590

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World Cities Day at Expo 2020 Dubai will focus on reimagining the future of cities to become more inclusive, resilient and dynamic. With a focus on climate solutions, the Day will be brought to life through a series of discussions, dialogues, and showcases of best practices to explore how to collectively adopt a green recovery for more sustainable, smart, resilient and livable urban environments.

A Place for Everyone

World Cities Day

Access to safe and affordable living conditions is a fundamental right. More than 70 per cent of the world’s population is forecasted to live in cities by 2050 and over one billion are already living in informal communities. As the demand for both cities and communities escalate, Expo will bring together experts, citizens, and governments to re-think the way in which habitats are designed and managed. From innovative transport, sustainable housing and green public spaces to renewable energy and circular economies, living spaces of the future will be imagined as resilient, sustainable and inclusive.  

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 How do we live and grow in harmony with our planet?

Learnings and insights from the World Majlis conversations on Urban and Rural Development

Insight Report from Urban and Rural Development Week

Learnings and insights from the World Majlis conversations on Urban and Rural Development


Insight Report from Urban & Rural Development Week

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Creating a blueprint for future smart cities

Siemens Website

Siemens is a global technology powerhouse that unites the digital and 
physical worlds to benefit society through its focus on smart infrastructure, digital industries, and intelligent mobility solutions. As Expo 2020 Dubai’s Premier Partner for Infrastructure Digitalisation, Siemens is reshaping the future of urban living by creating a blueprint for the smart cities of the future. By integrating its technology, the company is helping to create history’s most digitalised, sustainable and secure Expo. Siemens is also an anchor tenant at District 2020, the future city that will live on as a legacy of Expo 2020 Dubai.

Creating a blueprint for smarter cities

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Siemens 

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UN Habitat

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Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN)

Urban & Rural Development Week

Based in Dubai, Ahmed and Rashid bin Shabib are urbanists and researchers of cities across the Middle East and North Africa. They are the founders of Brownbook, a magazine that focuses on cities across the region. They have also curated several exhibitions and collaborations including the Domaine De Boisbuchet: (2022), National Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2021), AA Gallery (2018) Vitra Design Museum (2017), Serpentine Gallery (2016), Archizoom EPFL (2015), Lars Müller Publishing (2019). They both hold degrees in Urbanism from the University of Oxford, Recipients of the 2021 Golden Lion (Architecture) for National Pavilion, UAE, and have been nominated for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (2010, 2019).

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Ahmed & Rashid Bin Shabib

Nadimeh Mehra joined Expo 2020 Dubai in early 2016 and is responsible for the commercial development of the post-Expo site – District 2020 - supporting its transition into a mixed-use community and innovation-focused ecosystem. In this role, she oversees Business Development, Sales and Partnership Management. This includes driving commercial strategy, business and financial planning, ecosystem development and global business engagement, with the aim of supporting the creation of a sustainable legacy and long-term economic opportunities. Prior to joining Expo 2020, Ms. Mehra headed the Development Capital division of UAE-based Daman Investments for 10 years.

Nadimeh

Vice President, Transition Unit, Expo 2020 Dubai

Nadimeh Mehra

Belen is an architect and urban designer with experience working in South America. She currently teaches and researches at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and is doing her PhD at Durham University (UK). Belen is the coordinator of CASA (Ciudades Auto-Sostenibles Amazónicas) (Self-Sustainable Cities in the Amazon), an action-research project exploring settlement relocation in the Amazon Rainforest and the Latin America and the Caribbean Monitoring & Evaluation Coordinator of GRRIPP (Gender Responsive Resilience and Intersectionality in Policy and Practice), a research project focusing on resilience with an emphasis on gender responsive infrastructure; seeking to understand and enhance people’s resilience to shocks, and support the development of more sustainable infrastructure, in all its diverse forms.

Belen Desmaison

Architect and Urban Designer; Coordinator, CASA

Belén Desmaison

Bjorn Low is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Edible Garden City, an urban farming social enterprise based in Singapore. Bjorn is a leader in the grow-your-own food movement, which is transforming the Singaporean mindset around farming. He leads a sizeable “farm-lab” in the city that incubates other start-ups and encourages more urban farming entrepreneurs in the urban food and waste solutions space.

He holds a Bachelors of Commerce from Curtin University and is currently a PhD candidate at RMIT University’s School of Architecture and Urban Design. 

Bjorn Low

Executive Director and Co-founder, Edible Garden City

Dr. Elizabeth C English has experience in education, practice, teaching and research in both the fields of Architecture and Civil Engineering.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and Urban Planning from Princeton University, a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a PhD in Architectural Theory from the University of Pennsylvania. Elizabeth is a pioneer in the emerging field of amphibious architecture. Her current research focuses on developing amphibious foundation systems as a flood risk reduction and climate change adaptation strategy that supports the preservation of traditional housing forms and respect for local cultural practices, with projects addressing the needs of Indigenous and low-income populations in Vietnam, Canada, Nicaragua, Jamaica etc. 

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Prof. Elizabeth English

Tatiana Antonelli Abella is the Founder and Managing Director of Goumbook, a Social Enterprise dedicated to Sustainability and Sustainable Development. Founded in 2009, Goumbook is one of the oldest Social Enterprises in the UAE and today it manages many projects working with different partners from various sectors. Tatiana sits on the Engage Committee, under Dubai Chamber of Commerce’s umbrella and has been nominated Environmental Ambassador for the Middle East Youth Expo. She also acts as an advisor to events such as Art Dubai or the Emirates Literature Festival to help them be more sustainable. Since 2012 she has been proud to be a judge of the Gulf Capital SME Awards for the ‘Most Sustainable Business of the Year’. 

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Tatiana Antonelli Abella

Greg Clark, CBE, is an urbanist, author, global advisor, chairman and non-executive director. Clark has advised more than 200 cities, 50 national governments and a wide array of bodies including the OECD, Brookings Institution, the World Bank and the Urban Land Institute (ULI) on strategies for city development and investment. He also advises global investors and corporate service companies on how to align with city leaders.”

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Group Advisor on Future Cities and New Industries, HSBC

Greg Clark

Dave Hopping joined Siemens in 1989, and is the CEO of Siemens Smart Infrastructure Solutions & Services. He is responsible for the smart building and smart grid portfolios including building IoT, automation, fire safety, security, energy, low and medium voltage, digital grid, and control components. All but four of his more than 30 years of industry experience have been with Siemens. During this time, Hopping has held leadership positions in Sales, Operations, and Management across the USA.


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CEO, Smart Infrastructure Solutions, Siemens

David Hopping

Gábor is a certified electrical engineer with 10 years of experience in fintech, and product development. After graduating, he was working on different online projects, such as the development and launch of the first online stock exchange in Hungary. He was the CEO of one of Hungary's most successful loan-comparison portals. 3 years ago he founded AquaShield Control. The company's main goal is to develop and manufacture the most advanced smart monitoring and controlling device and operating system for greenhouses and indoor farms. He and his team launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2019 and an Indiegogo campaign in 2020. Both campaigns were successful and now Gábor and his team is actively looking for outside investors to scale up the AquaShield Control.


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Gábor Sulcz

Amira Osman is a Sudanese/South African architect, researcher, academic, activist, public speaker, and author. She is a Professor of Architecture at the Tshwane University of Technology and holds the position of SARChI: DST/NRF/SACN Research Chair in Spatial Transformation (Positive Change in the Built Environment). Amira is currently a joint coordinator for the international CIB W104 Open Building Implementation network and the Vice-President of the South African Institute of Architects (SAIA) and will be hosting the conference: A City is [Not] a Tree: the Urban Ecologies of Divided Cities in 2022. She is the director of the organisation  PLATFORM100 which is a thinktank and a collaborative vehicle for promoting change in conversations and practice around architecture, space and cities. 

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Professor of Architecture, Tshwane University of Technology

Prof. Amira Osman

Mokena Makeka is a Principal in Dalberg Advisors. He is a an accomplished architect, artist, creative, curator, global leader, scholar, speaker, urbanist. He is currently the Azrieli Visiting Critic of 2020, Carleton University School of architecture and urbanism- Canada, Adjunct Professor Cooper Union- New York, and is a Board member of the South African Green Building Council and is a board member of the Cape Town Central City Improvement district. He is at the forefront of thinking on contemporary inclusive African Cities, and is focused on ecological and socio-economic justice. Mokena Makeka is one the 40 cultural leaders of WEF17, Davos/Klosters alongside such luminaries as Shakira and Forest Whitaker, recognised for speaking truth to power and seeking to change the world for better. 

Architect and Principal, Dalberg (Moderator)

Mokena Makeka

Tan Szue Hann is an award-winning Architect, strategist and thought leader in sustainability and sustainable development. Hann is the Chairman of Sustainability, Singapore Institute of Architects, the professional body for Architects in Singapore, and leads sustainable development at a leading global hospitality chain. Hann is also an appointed World Cities Summit Young Leader, and BCA Built Environment Young Leader. In 2021, he co-founded IxSA (Innovation x Sustainability Alliance), a global non-profit think tank, with a group of sustainability leaders. His portfolio includes the award-winning ParkRoyal on Pickering with WOHA. He has spoken in numerous conferences including SWITCH, the UN Asia Pacific Urban Forum, and COP25 in Madrid.



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Chairman of Sustainability, Singapore Institute of Architects

Mr. Tan Szue Hann

Whether in rural or urban settings, access to safe and affordable living conditions is a fundamental right. With over 70 per cent of the world’s population due to live in cities by 2050, and over a billion already living in informal settlements, it is more important than ever to build resilient and sustainable habitats supported by networks of inclusive infrastructure and services. Cities will remain centres of activity, attracting billions of new dwellers as the world’s urban population is expected to grow by 3 billion additional citizens by 2050. The immense demands this will put on existing and new infrastructure, as 60 per cent of the area expected to be urban by 2030 has not yet been built is staggering. Sound development and urban management is more crucial than ever for countries to advance on the path towards sustainable development. The Urban and Rural Development Business Forum will highlight and showcase business opportunities, cutting-edge technologies and progress achieved by the UAE, International Participants and Expo Partners invested in the Urban and Rural Development sector. The forum will also be an opportunity for partners to have meaningful conversations that foster knowledge transfer. This will include exploring ways of setting an effective global response that includes the collaborative efforts of governments, the private sector and civil society.

Urban and Rural Development

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How do we live and grow in harmony with our planet?

Public-Private Partnerships for Urban & Rural Infrastructure

Spotlight Session: The Future of Transport

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Connecting the business community with a world of possibilities in the most dynamic city in the Middle East.

Dubai Chamber Website

As an Official Partner for Expo 2020 Dubai, Dubai Chamber is playing a key role in creating new connections and fostering cross-border collaboration. The Chamber is providing a platform for UAE companies and their international counterparts to network at its on-site facility at Expo 2020. It is also hosting a number of high-profile events during Expo, including the Global Business Forum (GBF) Africa, GBF Latin America, GBF ASEAN, the 12th World Chambers Congress and the 5th edition of the Global Islamic Economy Summit.

Creating an Expo of business opportunities

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Dubai Chamber

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Estonia Image Gallery

Offering everything from online tax filing to internet elections to quick business registration via your mobile device, Estonia is one of the world’s first e-governments, a true digital-first society. With a luminous design that draws inspiration from the circuitry that powers it, the Estonia Pavilion shares the Baltic nation’s digital innovations with Expo 2020.

Inside, visitors can tour a futuristic model e-classroom and walk beneath illuminated data “clouds” based on the country’s X-Road online infrastructure – but it’s not all digital here. You can also taste Nordic-inspired Estonian cuisine at the on-site restaurant.


Estonia

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Estonia Pavilion

Holding his current position since 2006, Hamad Buamim is the President & CEO of Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry. He is also the Chairman of the Paris-based World Chambers Federation - International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Buamim serves as a Board Member of Dubai World, Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, UAE Banks Federation, and acts as Chairman of National General Insurance PJSC.
Previously, Buamim served as Chairman of Emirates Financial Services, Emirates NBD Capital as well as a Board Member of the UAE Central Bank, Dubai International Financial Center, Emirates NBD Bank and Network International.

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President & CEO, Dubai Chamber of Commerce

H.E. Hamad Buamim 

Michael is the Global Vice President of Industry and Value Advisory for SAP. He brings over 20 years of experience in Strategy, Planning and Sales Execution. In his role he guides our Value Advisory teams in Europe, MEA and Asia, and helps our customers there defining and delivering their Digital Future. 
Before joining SAP,  Michael worked 6 years with Cisco Systems, being in his last role responsible forerunning for the EMEAR Strategy & Transformation team (10 people, steering about 25% of Cisco’s world wide business). Before that he worked 10 years with McKinsey & Company (last role Junior Partner) consulting many clients across the technology, services, and FSI industries. 

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Vice President, Industries & Value Advisory, SAP

Dr. Michael Glueck 

Margus Tiru has 13 years of experience with analysis of location datasets, GIS, Mobile Big Data and new data sources for official statistics. He is a member of the UN Statistics Division Global Working Group on Big Data for Official Statistics task team Mobile Phone Data. He is the Chief Data Officer in Positium working on development of the methodology and system for processing Mobile Big Data into meaningful and valuable statistical indicators.

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Margus Tiru

Katarzyna Smętek is the president of WUF11 Youth Council as well as the president of Polish Youth Climate Council. She is an ambassador of the European Climate Pact. As a youth climate activist she has participated in several high-level conferences such as COP24, COP25, UN Climate Action Summit, Abu Dhabi Climate Meeting, the 10th Session of the World Urban Forum, the UN High-Level Meeting on Climate and Sustainable Development for All. She was part of the UN working group co-organizing the UN Youth Climate Summit in 2019. She promotes youth engagement and participation in decision-making processes on all levels of political governance.

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President of the Youth Climate Council - Ministry of Climate & Environment

Katarzyna Smętek

Frven Lim is the Director of DP Architects’ London office. He has a built track record of >11,000 residential units and >2 million square meters over his 21-year professional career. His originality is evident in his works, and has earned him high-profile design recognitions, including the prestigious ‘20 under 45’ accolade accorded by Singapore’s Urban and Redevelopment Authority. Frven has led projects ranging from small bespoke urban insertions to large-scale townships and Masterplans. The diverse portfolio across Asia, the Middle-East, India, China and the UK, include residential, commercial, retail and government buildings. He is a thought leader in urban cities’ future trends and champions the motto of “making a difference through design”, specifically on Architecture’s role for happiness for humanity. 


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Frven Lim Tiong

Eithne Treanor is a professional conference moderator and international communications consultant. Having worked as a business TV reporter, her knowledge covers energy, technology, security, infrastructure, and leadership. She is the managing director and founder of E Treanor Media based in Dubai, UAE. In recent months, she has moved her reporting and moderating skills online to facilitate a number of major global conferences. As a former international broadcast journalist, her TV reporting experience spans major television networks including ABC News, Sky News, BBC World, Bloomberg and CNBC International. 

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Eithne Treanor (Moderator)

Tala Al Ansari is the Director of District 2020’s Innovation Ecosystem. She leads the development 
and execution of District 2020’s ecosystem strategy that supports the curation of its innovation driven community. Her role involves building partnerships and engaging with the diverse
stakeholders required across government, academia, accelerators, incubators and service 
providers. Tala also oversees the implementation of District 2020’s global entrepreneurs’ programme,
Scale2Dubai, which is focused on attracting innovative startups and small businesses that are 
looking to grow and scale their business to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region via 
the programme. She is one of the UAE’s first Nation Chief Design Officers, a certified trainer in
creative lateral thinking, and an accredited change practitioner.

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Director, Innovation Ecosystem and Scale2Dubai, District 2020

Tala Al Ansari

British national Laura Buckwell is a an industry event EMCEE and former TV news anchor. Throughout her time, Laura has interviewed many high profile CEO’s, personalities, entrepreneurs and government bodies. 
As a prominent figure within the events industry. Laura enjoys hosting high profile industry platforms, including the 18th Session for UNIDO, the Finance Summit Ryiadh, GMIS, the Global Smart Energy Summit and Future Sustainability Summit to name a few. Laura has had the privilege of introducing global leaders to the stage including Presidents, Ministers, and UN officials. Awards nights are also a forte, from the BBC Good Food Awards for 5 years running to the Emirates Woman Awards, Laura continues to be booked for prestigious gala dinners, recognizing different segments of society and industry. 


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Laura Buckwell

Afzal Shabaz Mohammed has been leading the project team as well as the Business development with Expo and partners, driving and contributing to MindSphere for Smart Cities opportunities globally. 
Until Dec 2017, Mr. Afzal was Head of Business Development & Strategy of Building Technologies Divisions for Middle East with key roles to drive strategy, head the business development team, lead cross divisional collaboration for Building Technologies division, establish new partners, head bid teams for large enterprise projects, drive Smart city, digitalization, and Innovation initiatives in the region.  He has 23+ Years of critical enterprise projects experience of which 20 years are with Siemens; he has worked in Asia, Middle East and Europe. 

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Vice President, IoT Technology and Innovation Team, Siemens 


Afzal Shabaz Mohammed

A Building Engineer who graduated in 1974 from the Polytechnic Institute of Conakry, later called Gamal Abdel Nasser University of Conakry, Kerfalla Toure has held senior positions in the public administration of his country, the Republic of Guinea. Since 2015, he has been the Director of the Strategy and Development Office of the Ministry of Cities and Urban development. Along with his administrative duties, Mr. Toure is a founding member of the National Order of Building and Public Works Engineers of his country, of which he was also the First President from 1992 to 1998. He is the author of several publications on the housing sector in Guinea and is the drafter of his country's Construction and Housing Code which was promulgated in 2015 as the Law of the Republic.


Director of the Bureau of Strategy & Development, Ministry of Cities and Urban

Kerfalla Touré

Prof. Iwona Sagan is the Head of Department of Socio-Economic Geography University of Gdansk, Poland. She is an expert in urban and regional policy of the worldly recognized position in both, in the science and in the urban and regional practice. She established and coordinates the only Polish Centre of Excellence devoted to urban issues ‘RECOURSE’ - Research and Education Centre for Urban Socio-Economic Development. She is a member of the Committee for Space Economy and Regional Planning of Polish Academy of Sciences, the advisor for Regional, the City of Gdansk and the City of Gdynia Urban Development Commissions. She has participated in 17 European research projects as a coordinator of the Polish partner, dealing with urban and regional development issues.

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Head of Department of Socio-Economic Geography, University of Gdansk

Prof. Iwona Sagan

Mr. Sanjay Dutt is the MD & CEO of Tata Realty & Infrastructure Ltd and Tata Housing Development Company Ltd. Mr. Sanjay has over 28 years of experience in the Real Estate Development and Consulting space. He is managing 20 ongoing projects measuring across 13 cities in India, Sri Lanka & Maldives, which includes Commercial, Retail, Hospitality and Residential (Luxury/Premier, Affordable, Second Home & Mixed-Use Township). He is also involved in the management of the infrastructure projects, which includes 3 rope ways, 4 roadways & a Metro project in Pune. Sanjay spent 23 years with top 3 Global Real Estate Consulting companies. 

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Joint Chairman,FICCI Real Estate Committee,Managing Director/CEO, Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd

Sanjay Dutt 

Fatmir Bytyqi was appointed Deputy President of the Government in charge of Economic Affairs, Coordination of Economic Sectors and investments on August 30th 2020. He is an international expert in the area of managing economic processes and reforms and has more than 20 years of work experience in over 100 various programs and projects aimed at developing sectors, national institutions, economic chamber and companies. Mr. Bytyqi has conducted more than 500 trainings in the Western Balkan countries and so far, has been professionally engages as consultant and advisor in several governments, ministries and institutions in the region. As of 2008 he has been actively involved as an expert for EU funds accessing and management and is known as one of the leading professionals in this area throughout the region.


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Deputy Prime Minister in Charge of Economic Affairs, Government of the Republic of North Macedonia


H.E. Fatmir Bytyqi

Maina Kiondo joined the Ministry of Agriculture in 1987 as a Project Officer.  He has participated in implementing a number of projects including the Sigor Wei Wei Irrigation Project, the Central Kenya Dry Land Project, the National Agriculture and Livestock Extension Project and the National Dairy Development Project. In 2011, he moved to the Ministry of Regional Development as the Deputy Director, Resource Mobilization. In 2019, he became the Director, Northern Corridor Development at the Ministry of East African Cooperation and Regional Development. On 5th January, 2021, he was appointed as the Ag. Director General/CEO of LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority. Mr. Kiondo who is an Agriculturalist by profession, holds an MBA – Project Management and is a member of the Project Management Institute.


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Director General/CEO & Secretary of the Board, LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority


Maina Kiondo

Wissam Ayoub joined EllisDon in 2005 and is now Senior Vice President- Middle East heading EllisDon’s operations in the MENA region providing Construction Services & Project Management for a portfolio of projects exceeding $10 Billion. EllisDon has been in the Middle East for the last 17 years and is working with the leading developers in the region such as Emaar, Aldar, Miral, Mubadala, Qatari Diar, Diriyah, Seven, and others. Wissam is a Professional Engineer in Ontario. He also holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business, York University, specializing in Real Estate, Infrastructure and Finance. He is a “LEED Accredited Professional”, holds the “Gold Seal” in project management from the Canadian Construction Association, and a Member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors “MRICS” in project management.


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Senior Vice President Middle East, EllisDon

Wissam Ayoub 

Einari Kisel is the Head of Strategy and Partnerships at the FinEst Centre for Smart Cities. In parallel he is also a Member of Supervisory Boards of Eesti Energia AS (state-owned energy utility), and of Elektrilevi OÜ (distribution system operator owned by Eesti Energia AS). Before current duties he was acting from 2014 until 2020 as the Regional Manager for Europe in the World Energy Council Secretariat. From 2002 until 2012 he was engaged in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications of Estonia firstly as the Director of Energy Department and since 2008 as the Undersecretary of State for Energy. In these duties he was responsible for all energy policy affairs of the state: he led number of state committees and was engaged in Supervisory Boards of several state owned companies and institutions.




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Head of Partnerships and Strategy, FinEst Twins Smart City Centre of Excellence


Dr. Einari Kisel

Tõnis Arjus is the City Architect in Tartu, Estonia, Head of the Department of Sustainable Urban Planning. He attained his Master's degree in Architecture and Urban Planning from the Estonian Academy of Arts.
Tõnis has been the City Architect for the last 9 years and has been active in the dialogues concerning public space and sustainability. A number of annual national architecture awards have been granted to projects in Tartu and along with other successfully managed proposals the city has gained a lot of attention in Estonia.
Tõnis is mostly concerned whether the trends of today are a suitable environment for a truly sustainable urban future regarding the issues of ecology, built environment and mobility. 

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Tõnis Arjus

Nicolas Ferrand is an engineering graduate from École Polytechnique and École des Ponts ParisTech. He also holds a Masters degree in City Planning from the Massachusetts lnstitute of Technology. He is CEO of the Société de Livraison des ouvrages Olympiques SOLIDEO, the public body responsible for delivering the venues for the Olympic Games in Paris. He previously headed the public entities responsible for developing the new town of Marne-la-Vallée, EPAMARNE and EPAFRANCE. Nicolas Ferrand was the first Managing Director of the Saint-Etienne Public Development Company then Managing director of urban planning for Rennes Métropole. Before that, he was a Technical Adviser responsible for urban design and planning in the Office of Gilles de Robien then of Dominique Perben at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.


Nicolas Ferrand - Photo

Nicolas Ferrand

After two decades at Siemens, with stints in the U.A.E., Libya, Germany and Pakistan, von Struve became the Chief Executive Officer of Siemens in the Middle East and the United Arab Emirates in May 2020. Prior to his current role, von Struve was the Managing Director of Siemens in Pakistan, a position he held since 2015. As an engineer and business executive, he has been an advocate of implementing technologies in infrastructure and industries that improve our lives and protect our planet. These days his focus is on melding technologies – such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, additive manufacturing, 5G and the future of automation – into a cohesive bundle that will create immense value for customers.



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Helmut von Struve 

At NEOM, Florian Lennert leads on overall urban development and mobility systems. Prior to joining NEOM, he led the Innovation Centre for Mobility and the design and implementation of a smart city district and living lab for smart mobility, renewable energy, and future city design in Berlin. He is founder of Future Lab Berlin, a sustainable innovation think tank and investment advisory firm and regularly advises research institutions, governments, municipalities, businesses and technology ventures on sustainable mobility, urban development and innovation. Lennert serves as chair of the European Commission expert group for smart mobility systems and services, is a member of the EU Commission expert assembly on smart and sustainable cities and counsel to the Austrian Minster for Climate, Energy and Mobility. 


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Floriann Lennert 

David Fehervari lives in Hungary and conduct business in the EU and the ASEAN region. His Industry experiences includes smart home solutions, startup acceleration, IT solutions, mobile application development, music and entertainment.  Fehervari has graduated from the University of Hertfordshire. His main focus is business development, GTM and business growing strategy, B2B distribution management internationally. In the past 20 years he has built valuable international business networking, to the effect of making his mission real, which is finding the right places and business environment for Hungarian startups and companies.


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Interim Sales Advisor, Chameleon Smart Home

David Fehervari 

Riadh is a Managing Partner at Deutsche Telekom Consulting which is the consulting arm of the group, advising Deutsche Telekom as well as other ICT clients across the world. Riadh has performed a plethora of consulting projects for clients worldwide, including Germany, Eastern Europe, South Africa, North Africa and the Middle East. More than 60 consulting assignments covered the whole value chain of an ICT provider such as corporate strategy, business planning & budgeting, Due Diligence, company valuation, technology strategy & planning, digital transformation & innovation, restructuring & re-organization, process re-engineering and wholesale. Riadh’s anchor is diversity, in terms of psychology, cultures, working environments, and the combination of technology, business and humanity for the better of our societies.

Riadh Marrakchi

Josh Giegel is the CEO and Co-Founder of Virgin Hyperloop where he is leading a team of engineers making hyperloop a reality. Josh founded the company in 2014, when hyperloop was an idea drawn on a whiteboard in a garage. A little over two years later, VH built a full-scale prototype capturing the attention of governments worldwide. Today, Josh is leading the development of paradigm shifting electromagnetic, high power, autonomous technology, bridging the engineering work with unparalleled passenger experience, and working at the highest levels of government to develop a regulatory framework for hyperloop technology. In November 2020, Josh made history becoming one of the first passengers in the world to ride on a hyperloop. 

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Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Virgin Hyperloop

Josh Giegel 

On October 2020, Tatjana Matic became a Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications in the Government of the Republic of Serbia. Previously, from May 2014, she was the State Secretary in the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications. In March 2015 she was elected a member of the Commission of the Republic of Serbia for Cooperation with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNESCO in the field of information technologies and information society. Since September 2015 she has been engaged in the work of the Coordinating body for the EU accession process, Chapters 3 and 10, as president of the negotiation groups - Right of Establishment and Freedom to Provide Services and the Information Society and Media.


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Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunication 


Hon. Tatjana Matic

Urban and Rural Development Business Forum

World Expos have long been inflection points for global progress and innovation where governments and citizens have united to form enduring partnerships and generate opportunities in business. We have built an exciting offering through which entities such as governments, the private sector and others can harness the power of global trade and exchange to shape a better world. 

The Thrive Together Track of Expo 2020 Dubai’s Programme for People and Planet features a tapestry of event series and experiences that focus on building a resilient global economy, one that enables strong economic growth and partnerships. 

Enabling Economic Growth and Partnerships

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Thrive Together 

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The true value of smart cities is evolving. While they are important in stimulating economic activity and sustainability, increasingly, the new measure of a smart city’s success will be the holistic wellbeing of its citizens. In the past smart city technologies were thought of primarily as tools for improved efficiency behind the scenes. The need for this is clear - as growing populations and stretched infrastructure systems put unprecedented pressures on cities, smart cities provide a valuable tool, to use data and technology to improve quality of life. However, beyond this, as smartphones and connectivity transform the way we interact with our surroundings, putting instant information about traffic, health services, and community news into millions of hands, cities are recognising that effective smart city strategies start with people and not technology. In a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for cities to be resilient in the face of radical changes, will the true measure of success for smart cities be in their ability to improve the holistic wellbeing of its residents?

What Does a Human-Centric Future for Smart Cities Look Like? 

Smart Cities

A discussion between thought leaders, visionaries and changemakers on what a human-centric future for smart cities looks like.


Session programme - Smarter than Smart Cities

Smarter than Smart Cities - Documents 

Wesam Lootah is the Chief Executive Ofﬁcer (CEO) of the Smart Dubai Government Establishment, the technology arm of Digital Dubai (previously known as Smart Dubai). Digital Dubai is the government entity entrusted with Dubai’s city-wide digital transformation envisioned by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Wesam has more than 20 years of strategic leadership experience during which he has leveraged Information Technology to create innovative new channels and a world-class Smart Government infrastructure to improve the quality of public services for citizens, residents, visitors and businesses alike, in Dubai.

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CEO, Smart Dubai Government Establishment, Digital Dubai, UAE

H.E. Wesam Lootah

Dr. Altwaijry is the CEO of Data and AI for Smart Cities in SDAIA, he is also the Assistant Director for iDART in NIC at SDAIA. Prior to that, he co-founded Estishraf (Insights) platform in NIC. 
Dr. Hotham was the Deputy Supervisor for the joint centers of excellence program in King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST).

CEO of Data and AI for Smart Cities in SDAIA and, Assistant Director for iDART in NIC at SDAIA, KSA

Dr Hotham Altwaijry

Alberto Araque is VP of Internet of Things and Artiﬁcial Intelligence at Etisalat. He joined Etisalat in 2015 and since then, he is leading the IOT practice in Etisalat Digital and more recently the addition of the new 
AI unit and Industry Solutions. He accumulates a global and extensive experience of more than 20 years in ICT, Digital and Internet of Things services, participating and leading transformational telco projects. 
Formerly, he was Head of M2M & Financial Services at Telefonica in Spain and previously he was responsible at Telefonica in different areas such as strategy, marketing, business development, and service design in Spain and Latin America region. 
He received his Master Degree in Telecommunication Engineering at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid in 1994 and he has an MBA from IE Business School.

Vice President, Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence, Etisalat Digital, UAE 

Alberto Araque

As Senior Vice President of the Transition Unit, Sanjive’s role is to oversee the transition and evolution of the Expo 2020 site into District 2020, the future smart and human-centric community and innovation ecosystem. His role includes strategy development and planning for the re-purposing and commercialization of assets inherited from the World Expo, into a global destination focused on supporting industry growth, and Dubai’s innovation-driven economy. Sanjive was formerly Chief Commercial Ofﬁcer at Expo 2020 Dubai, responsible for driving ticket sales, managing commercial sponsorships, developing on-site and off-site retail operations, establishing licensed merchandise and rolling out Expo’s F&B offering.

Senior Vice President, Transition Unit - District 2020, UAE 

Sanjive Khosla

Born in Madrid in 1968, PhD in Public State Law, by Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Graduate in Law by Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Master in Territorial and Urban Planning Politics by Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, specialised in Urban Planning and Master in Public Law by Universidad 
Carlos III de Madrid. 
Elected Madrid’s Senator in the twelfth parliamentary term and Mayor of Mostoles. President from the Spanish Delegation in the Local and regional Congress of the European Council and president of the International Affairs Committee of the Spanish Federation of Towns and Provinces. 
Member of the European Towns and Regions Directive Committee, the Executive Bureau of the United Cities and Local Governments and the 
OCDE Inter-Parliamentary Network. 

General Secretary of Urban and Housing Agenda, Spain 


World Cities Day

Speaker of the day

Speaker

Ahmed & Rashid Bin Shabib

Speaker

Nadimeh Mehra

Speaker

Belén Desmaison

Speaker

Bjorn Low

Speaker

Prof. Elizabeth English

Speaker

Tatiana Antonelli Abella

Speaker

Ahmed & Rashid Bin Shabib

Speaker

Nadimeh Mehra

Speaker

Belén Desmaison

Speaker

Bjorn Low

Image Gallery

Urban & Rural Development Week.

This event is part of the
World Cities Day.

Speaker of the day

Image Gallery

Urban & Rural Development Week.

This event is part of theWorld Cities Day.

This event is part of the
World Cities Day.