Building Smart Cities: Are the tech giants taking over as our city development leaders? - Manila

Global tech players such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon – the so-called GAFA, and the Asian version: BAT, Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, as well as Samsung, are redefining work, mobility, leisure, and our everyday.  

Given that almost half of Asia’s population lives in cities, in the presentation, we will discuss how daily urban experience is being affected by this, and how our cities are increasingly being used as laboratories for countless innovations.  

ABOUT THE SPEAKER 

Cristina Mateo is Executive Director at IE School of Architecture and Design and teaches “Digital Transformation” in the Master in Strategic Design and in the Master in Architectural Management and Design.  She is a specialist in urban ethnography, branding, communication, and E-Transformation & New Business Models. 

Prior to joining IE, she was Head of Strategic Planning at Fundación Siglo, The Department of Culture and Tourism for Castile and Leon, implementing the e- tourism strategy for the region that contributed to the development of an ecosystem of online and offline services for the region.  At Madrid City Council for the International Strategy and Action Bureau, Cristina managed the city brand through a strategy of participation in large events such as the Olympics and World Expos. Her experience in Madrid and London also includes working for VisitBritain, AT Kearmey, marchFirst and Razorfish.   

Cristina Mateo trained as a journalist and holds a Ph.D. in Sociology, from Goldsmiths College, University of London and an Executive MBA from IE Business School. She lived in London for 12 years, where she gave university lectures on the topics of the media in Spain and Spanish contemporary culture. She has written extensively on culture consumption and the role of ethnic identity in a global city.