Marco Maréchal

Marco Maréchal is a visionary international keynote speaker working at the intersection of smart cities, smart mobility, smart energy, Climate change, Circular Economy, smart water, digital governance and innovation (DT/AI) systemic transition. His work focuses on how cities, regions and countries can successfully navigate the near and mid-term future towards resilient, climate-neutral and people-centred societies.

Rather than starting from technology alone, Marco’s keynotes begin with a fundamental question: “how do people, organisations and institutions actually change?”
By connecting technological innovation with human behaviour, governance and policy design, he helps decision-makers move from ambition to real-world implementation — looking beyond pilots and use cased towards 2030, 2040 and beyond. Over the past decade, Marco has delivered more than 250 interactive keynotes, lectures and strategic sessions per year across Europe, North America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. He is widely recognised for his ability to translate complexity into strategic clarity, supporting governments, cities and industry leaders in making future-proof choices.
A central pillar of his work is the development and application of Digital Twins as strategic policy instruments. Marco advises cities and national governments on how digital twins can be used for scenario-based policymaking, real-time impact analysis and public participation in domains such as mobility, energy, water management and spatial planning. His experience includes large-scale digital twin programmes in Canada, Australia and India, where these tools are actively used to support decision-making at city, territory and national level.

In Canada, Marco is a keynote speaker at ITS Canada and contributes to the development of digital twins for several cities, supporting integrated mobility and smart city strategies. In Australia, he works closely with ITS Australia as a recurring keynote speaker and strategic advisor. Each year, he collaborates with Australian cities and territories on digital twin implementations and on the development of smart mobility, smart city and innovation strategies at both territory and national level. Marco is also the keynote speaker and participates in many round tables and debate at the Smart City World congress in India – New Delhi.

Beyond technology and data, Marco plays a strategic role in bridging innovation, legislation and practice. He is frequently involved in international advisory trajectories where new policies and laws are being developed in parallel with real-life pilot projects and business cases. His work ensures that innovation is not only legally sound, but also socially accepted, economically viable and practically usable for the people it is intended for — citizens, employers and employees alike.

In recent years, this role became particularly visible in the energy transition, where Marco acted as senior strategic advisor in the development of the Dutch Collective Heat Act (WCW). Operating at the intersection of national government, municipalities, provinces, grid operators, housing corporations and the private sector, he helped translate complex legislation into workable governance models, participation strategies and implementation frameworks. This experience is increasingly relevant internationally, as many countries face similar challenges in designing collective energy systems that truly work in practice.
Marco is also the author of the international bestseller “Mobility in the Future 2030 – Finally the People Have Their Say”, which combines citizen research, emerging technologies and new governance models. The book has been presented to heads of state, ministers, royalty and CEOs worldwide and continues to influence strategic debates on the future of cities and mobility.

Alongside his advisory and keynote work, Marco hosts a monthly international radio programme on smart mobility, smart cities, energy and innovation, broadcast from the Dutch Media Park. Ministers, mayors, CEOs, policymakers, scientists and innovators join the programme to discuss the strategic choices societies face today, making it a living extension of his keynote philosophy: connecting vision, policy and practice.
Marco’s keynotes are known for being provocative, engaging and deeply grounded in real-world experience. He challenges audiences not with distant visions, but with a clear message: “The future is now — the real challenge is how we govern it, together”.
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Short Bio
Marco Maréchal is a visionary international keynote speaker working at the intersection of smart cities, smart mobility, smart energy, climate change, circular economy, smart water and digital governance. He advises cities, regions and national governments worldwide on how to translate innovation into real-world impact, combining Digital Twins, AI, policy design and human behaviour.
Marco is widely recognised for his ability to bridge technology, legislation and practice, ensuring that new strategies, laws and pilot projects are not only innovative, but also socially accepted, economically viable and truly usable for citizens, employers and employees. He works internationally on large-scale digital twin programmes in Canada, Australia and India, supporting decision-making at city, territory and national level, and is a recurring keynote speaker at ITS Canada, ITS Australia and Smart City Expo India
He is the author of the international bestseller “Mobility in the Future 2030 – Finally the People Have Their Say” and hosts a monthly international radio programme on smart mobility, smart cities, energy and innovation, broadcast from the Dutch Media Park.