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Dr. Ahmed Abukhater is the founder and president of Digital Cities. An award-winning author and TED speaker, Abukhater is an architect, environmental scientist, and an urban and regional planner by trade. He is recognized globally as one of the top thought leaders, strategic consultants, and innovators in community and economic development, intelligent cities, smart growth, geospatial and navigation solutions, sustainable community development, and trans-boundary water resources management and conflict resolution. His ground-breaking work in these fields has been implemented by government organizations, corporations, and universities on every continent.

Throughout his career spanning well over 20 years and across over 100 countries, he served in a variety of senior and executive positions in both governmental and nongovernmental organizations, including Senior Product Innovation Leadership (CIO) at Boeing, Senior Director of Mapping and GIS at Trimble, Global Director of Product Management at Pitney Bowes, Esri’s Global Industry Manager for Planning and Community Development and Director of PLACES (Planning, Architecture, Construction, Engineering and Sustainability). Dr. Abukhater has held faculty appointments at the State University of New York, the University of Texas at Austin, and Seattle University. As a practitioner, he strives to promote a holistic approach to addressing modern community and organizational needs through the creation of innovative technology solutions.

He holds a Ph.D. in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Texas at Austin, Executive Education in Public Leadership from Harvard Kennedy School, Executive Management, Leadership and Strategic Innovation from the MIT Sloan School of Management, dual Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Bachelor’s degree in Architectural Engineering. Throughout his career, he has authored numerous publications, served on many governing and advisory boards, and received many prestigious awards for his work.