Karima Kourtit is at the Open Universiteit, Heerlen, the Netherlands. She was the lab owner at the Jheronimus Academy of Data Science (JADS) in the division Smart Cities and Data Analytics (owned by the Eindhoven University of Technology and Tilburg University, Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands). She has worked at the Centre for the Future of Places (CFP) of the Department of Urban Planning and Environment, School of Architecture and Built Environment, at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, and Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland. She holds two Ph.D.s in economics and geography (with distinction), and has a profound interest in regional and urban topics. Her research interest focuses on the emerging ‘New Urban World’. Her academic profile is characterised by a profound involvement in evidence-based urban and spatial research on urban development, smart city policy, digital technology and data metrics. Lately, she has also been involved in the implementation of several national and international research projects and initiatives. Furthermore, she has been an editor of several books and guest editor for many international journals, and has published a wide array of scientific articles, papers and Special Issues of journals and has edited volumes in the field of geography and spatial sciences. She is also the managing director of The Regional Science Academy (TRSA).