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Fouad Mrad
Fouad Mrad joined Data Pop Alliance in October 2021 as Director for the MENA Region. He will lead the team efforts this region for harnessing data and technologies towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goals. Fouad received his BS from SUNY at Buffalo and his MSc and PhD all in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University.
He was a Senior Programme Manager (2017-2021) in the UN ESCWA based in Beirut Lebanon, the Executive Director for the ESCWA regional technology centre (2010-2017) in Amman Jordan. He worked with governments in Jordan and Lebanon, and in partnership with DPA and QCRI, to harness Big Data for serving development needs of Syrian refugees and host communities in Lebanon, and for assessing effectiveness of government decisions in response to COVID-19 pandemic. Professor Mrad led ESCWA efforts with 6 governments towards establishing national technology development and transfer systems. In addition, he assisted several member states with national Big Data readiness assessment and the development of national Artificial Intelligence strategies.
He is known among Arab innovators as the science advisor and chair of the Jury for the Qatar Foundation regional TV innovation competition program “Stars of Science” for 13 years. He represented the UN ESCWA in numerous regional and international meetings related to technology and innovation. He was a Professor at the American University of Beirut for 16 years, and worked for IBM USA magnetic storage division for 3 years.
Fouad is a passionate mentor, innovator and advocate for adequate and relevant technological applications.
Publications
“Big Data for good: Can Big Data illustrate the challenges facing Syrian refugees in Lebanon? 2021”. Read more.
“Developing national AI strategy: a guide 2021”. Read more.
“Developing national AI strategy: a guide 2021”. Read more.
“Big Data national readiness assessment guide 2021”. Read more.
“Impact of Fourth Industrial Revolution on development in Arab Countries, UN ESCWA, 2019”. Read more.
“Meeting Arab Socio-Economic development needs through Information and Communications Technologies, Journal of Transnational Management Development, Vol. 11, Issue 3, 2006”.
“Professional Ethics for Engineers manual, sponsored by USAID & LibanCell, Beirut, 2002”.
ESCWA. “Big Data for Good: Can Big Data Illustrate the Challenges Facing Syrian Refugees in Lebanon? (2020)”. Non-traditional data sources ought to be considered for supporting policymaking. In addition to official statistics or traditional data sources, the non-traditional data used in this project are useful in shedding light of the socio-economic challenges confronting Syrian refugees and their host communities. This is especially true for time-sensitive emergencies, where traditional data sources might be outdated or unavailable. In these situations, these alternative streams of information can assist decision making by informing policymakers on “near real time” changes. Read more.
ESCWA. “Developing an artificial intelligence strategy: National guide”. Components supporting successful AI strategies from around the world: (42 kB). Read more.
ESCWA. “Big data readiness assessment: National guide”. With the political and popular positive attitude to desire the latest technologies and seek immediate applications after realizing the role of these technologies in finding solutions to current (chronic) challenges in the Arab region, it is strongly advisable to assure the readiness for the adoption and application in order not to be slapped with disappointment backlash with failing examples that can deflate the excitement balloon. The readiness would require adequate important steps to design appropriate policies for governing and harnessing Frontier Technologies for development. Read more.
ESCWA. “Impact of Fourth Industrial Revolution on Development in Arab countries”. This study discusses the significance of the current industrial revolution and overviews the most significant development challenges in the Arab countries. Also, it notes that the accelerated developments in technologies are disruptive to all facets of living in their impact relevance. Read more.