BARCELONA, Spain, Oct. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC), the leading international event on cities and urban innovation organized by Fira de Barcelona, will bring together over 600 speakers from November 3-5 at the Gran Via venue under the theme "Urban Solutions, Real Impact." Held jointly with Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress, the new HOWS Barcelona – Housing World Summit, and Tomorrow.Blue Economy, this year's edition welcomes mayors and regional leaders from four continents, raising the gathering to the level of a true international summit of cities.
The political dimension of the 2026 edition is embodied by Anne Hidalgo, former Mayor of Paris and Global Ambassador of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, who led the French capital for more than a decade and became one of the leading municipal voices in the global climate debate. She will be joined by mayors and regional leaders from all over the world, among them Andre Dickens, Mayor of Atlanta; Haris Doukas, Mayor of Athens; Giuseppe Sala, Mayor of Milan; Gergely Karácsony, Mayor of Budapest; Daryl Barron, Lord Mayor of Dublin; Yvonne Aki-Sawyer, Mayor of Freetown.
Housing, one of the central concerns of this year's edition, gains further institutional weight through HOWS Barcelona, hosted by Barcelona City Council, which will host the Housing Mayors Meeting and Roundtable as a space for political dialogue and cooperation.
The congress keynote will be delivered by Nikolas Badminton, Chief Futurist at Futurist.com, an artificial intelligence expert who helps companies and institutions build strategic foresight capabilities. Additionally, Ayumi Moore Aoki, founder of Women in Tech Global, will also take part in the congress to address diversity and inclusion as drivers of urban innovation.
Industry and international leadership
The corporate and institutional presence rounds off the lineup of speakers with Kees Hertogh, Vice President of Global Industry Marketing at Microsoft, and Rochelle Haynes, Managing Director of What Works Cities at Bloomberg Philanthropies, the initiative that helps local governments use data and evidence to improve public services. They will be joined by Nam Guan Ng, General Manager and Head of Global Smart Cities at Dell; Bilel Jamoussi, Deputy Director of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau; and John Li, General Manager of the Global Government Business Department at Dahua Technology.
SCEWC 2026 expects 27,000 attendees and over 1,100 exhibitors, including Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Dell Technologies and Veolia.
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Mayors from Paris to Freetown turn Smart City Expo into the key global urban summit of 2026
TORONTO, Oct. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Manulife has appointed Sinéad O'Connor as Chief Actuary, effective October 12, 2026, reporting to Phil Witherington, President and Chief Executive Officer, and joining Manulife's Executive Leadership Team.
"Sinéad's strategic expertise, deep knowledge of our enterprise, and ability to lead highly engaged teams will make her an incredible Chief Actuary for Manulife," said Phil Witherington, President and Chief Executive Officer, Manulife. "Her appointment reflects her robust experience and proven leadership, and I am confident she will define an impactful and results-driven next chapter for our Actuarial, Inforce, and Reinsurance teams."
O'Connor joined Manulife in 2007 and, in addition to her most recent role as Global Head of Inforce Management, she has served as Deputy Chief Actuary, Head of Group Actuarial, US IFRS Chief Actuary, and held leadership roles in Annuities, Long Term Care, and Finance.
Her leadership experience spans actuarial reporting, capital management, reinsurance strategy, risk management, inforce optimization, operational transformation, and enterprise performance. She has been previously accountable for optimizing the financial and risk profile of Manulife's global inforce and legacy closed blocks, integrating value management with best-in-class operations, delivering multi-year financial outcomes through organic and inorganic strategies, and overseeing Canadian IFRS reporting requirements.
"It is a privilege to take on this role and have the opportunity to lead a team of colleagues who approach their work with such care and expertise each day," said Sinéad O'Connor, Chief Actuary, Manulife. "Manulife has an incredible Actuarial function, and I look forward to building on our strong foundation to not only ensure rigorous inforce management, innovative reinsurance strategies, and actuarial excellence, but also embrace innovative approaches to help define the future of our industry."
O'Connor is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries UK (FIA) and a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries USA (FSA), and she is working toward obtaining her Canadian FCIA accreditation. Until O'Connor completes the Canadian accreditation, Manulife's Derek Houle will serve as Appointed Actuary. Manulife will appoint a new Global Head of Inforce Management in due course.
O'Connor succeeds Stephanie Fadous, who passed away suddenly last month.
About Manulife
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider, headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Anchored in our ambition to be the number one choice for customers, we operate as Manulife across Canada and Asia, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States, providing financial advice, insurance and health solutions for individuals, groups and businesses. Through Manulife Wealth & Asset Management, we offer global investment solutions, financial advice, and retirement plan services to individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. At the end of 2025, we had more than 37,000 employees, over 106,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 37 million customers with operations across 25 markets globally. We trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and Philippine stock exchanges, and under '945' on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulife.com.
Media contact:
Brittany Straughn
Global Chief Communications Officer
Brittany_Straughn@jhancock.com
978-621-9116
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Manulife appoints Sinéad O'Connor as Chief Actuary, joining Executive Leadership Team
