Bassem Dawoud leads the Living Labs Program as Part of the Smart Cities initiative at the City of Calgary. In support of the local innovation ecosystem, he strives to facilitate access to City infrastructure assets for companies, researchers, and individuals to test and try ideas and products in a real-life environment. A Living Lab supports increased economic diversification and jobs for Calgarians. It can help entrepreneurs bring big ideas to fruition, support investment in our local economy and make Calgary more business friendly. Prior to this work, he spent over a decade in the Business Technology Architecture function at The City, planning and supporting technology transformation and strategic initiatives across departmental portfolios. He also has extensive experience as a management consultant, having spent a decade working for two of the Big-Four accounting firms. Bassem holds an Applied Bachelor’s degree from SAIT and has been a proud Calgarian for over 30 years, since his family’s move from Egypt to Canada.