What is a Smart–or Smarter City? How does it work? What are its benefits? How can a city become a “smarter city” and not be controlled by big tech, but instead, maintain quality control for the people who live, work and play there?
Corey Gray, Smart Cities Council, and Fanni Melles, What’s the Future for Cities Podcast
A qualified scientist, engineer and artist, Corey has a diverse 30+ year career in industries ranging from professional sports, through technology, advanced manufacturing, entertainment, fine arts, charity and philanthropy.
Currently Corey holds several professional positions including: Global President of Washington DC headquartered Smart Cities Council, the world’s peak industry group Smart Cities, Buildings and Technologies ; Co-founder and chair of multi-international award-winning feature film production company, Switch Productions; Global board member of New York based EB Research Partnership, a charity dedicated to finding a cure for the rare genetic disorder. Corey is also a recent director and treasurer of Silcon Valley based technology interoperability group, LonMark, and professional Australian Football franchise, Sturt Football Club.
Fanni Melles, Architect, Host of “What’s the Future For Cities” podcast
Fanni Melles, PhD, is a future of cities researcher, an architect by profession and a project manager by experience. Once involved with Hungary’s largest urban project in 150 years (911,412.13 m², across 10 design teams), she now holds a 2023 PhD from Swinburne University, diving deep into smart cities, future of cities, and innovation. Host of the “What is The Future for Cities?” podcast with more than 300 episodes, she thrives on turning chaos into cutting-edge urban systems. Passionate and dynamic, Fanni crafts bespoke city futures, rallying stakeholders to transform urban landscapes—because cities, she says, are the people who live in them.
