Okan Geray, Strategic Planning Advisor, Smart Dubai

Okan has nearly 25 years of experience in management consulting in various industries and countries. He has worked in A.T. Kearney global management consulting firm before he joined Dubai Government in 2002. He has worked in Dubai eGovernment, Dubai Smart Government, and more recently in Smart Dubai as the Strategic Planning Advisor after its establishment. His responsibilities over the years included Strategic Planning, Policy Making and Global Thought Leadership.

He was the Co-Chair of Enhancing Innovation and Participation Working Group in United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) joint global initiative supported by 17 UN agencies. This working group addressed Smart Governance, Smart Economy and Smart People aspects in smart cities. Additionally, he has led two deliverables globally in U4SSC; namely “Guidelines on Strategies for Circular Cities” and “City Science Application Framework”. Currently, he is leading “Guiding Principles for Artificial Intelligence in Cities” thematic group.

He was the Co-Chair of “Data Economy Impact, Commercialization and Monetization” Working Group in ITU Focus Group on Data Processing and Management. He is also the Co-Rapporteur of ITU Study Group 20 Question 7 on “Evaluation and assessment of Smart Sustainable Cities and Communities”. He is a member of SDG11 Global Council.

He holds double major B. S. degrees in Industrial and Computer Engineering from Bosphorus University in Istanbul Turkey, an M.S. and a Ph.D. degree in Systems and Control Engineering from University of Massachusetts in USA.