Maria Galindo is advisor in International Digital Policy to the Minister of Digital Policy and Public Administration of the Government of Catalonia.

Previously, she worked at the Barcelona City Council (2011-2015), promoting the Barcelona Institute of Technology (BIT) and Smart city strategies in the city. She represented Barcelona Smart City in front of the European Commission. Before, she worked at the Government of Catalonia (2006-2011), where she developed strategic planning tasks, as well as an evaluation methodology to assess the impact of R&D and Innovation policies. She also worked at the Studies Service at a Financial Institution, where she carried out economic research and financial analysis.

She has also developed her professional career in the private sector, as Manager of International & Smart City Business at a consultancy firm based in Barcelona (2015-2018) running a team of 11 people and operations worldwide.

She is an expert in PPP’s (Public Private Partnerships) for developing Smart Cities and cooperates with a number of multilateral organisations (Interamerican Development Bank, United Nations).

She studied Economics at the University of Barcelona and the London School of Economics (LSE) and holds an Executive Master in Public Administration (ESADE Business School).

She has published and co-authored a number of papers and articles, including the European Commission’s rolling agenda for Smart Cities ( http://eu-smartcities.eu/sites/all/files/10YRA %20final_january.pdf), and Catalonia’s Annual R&D and Innovation Report 2011 ( http://www.anella.cat/web/portal/estudis-i-tendencies/-/custom_publisher/IwB4/27437121/Informe-anual-de-l-RD-i-la-Innovacio-a-Catalunya-2011 ).

She lectures at La Salle University in Barcelona and Bocconi Universitey in Milan, and gives conferences worldwide.