Sami el Masri is a cultural development and management specialist and advisor. He worked and led a range of culture and heritage projects in the Arab World, including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Iraq, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. He consulted for international organizations, such as UNESCO, the World Bank, USAID, the World Monuments Fund, the Getty Conservation Institute, the American Research Centre in Egypt, the United Nations Environmental Project, UNDP, the EU as well as for cultural authorities in many of the countries mentioned above. He is a senior consultant to UNESCO and to public and private institutions, and provides expertise on subjects ranging from historical preservation and conservation to urban renewal and regeneration as well as cultural and institutional development. Over the year, he has gained extensive knowledge in culture management and more recently in the area of digital transformation of culture. Sami holds a master's degree in conservation of historic buildings and places from the University of York, UK and a Ph.D. in Islamic archaeology from Free University of Berlin, Germany.