{"id":2768,"date":"2024-03-22T14:38:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T14:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/?page_id=2768"},"modified":"2025-08-20T07:59:43","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T07:59:43","slug":"dt-bio-manuel-barreiro","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/standards4dt\/dt-bio-manuel-barreiro\/","title":{"rendered":"Manuel Barreiro"},"content":{"rendered":"    <div class=\"ituContainer grid\">\n        <div data-span=\"12\">\n                            <div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns has-white-background-color has-background is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\"><div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">    <section>\n        <div class=\"ituContainer grid\">\n                                                <div data-span=\"3\">\n                    <div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-rounded\"><div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"491\" height=\"491\" src=\"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/MBC-Photo-2-e1711118213832.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3142\" style=\"width:200px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/MBC-Photo-2-e1711118213832.jpg 491w, https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/MBC-Photo-2-e1711118213832-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/MBC-Photo-2-e1711118213832-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 491px) 100vw, 491px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>Manuel Barreiro Casta\u00f1eda<br><\/strong>CEO &amp; Founder, Aston Group; Vice-Chair of ITU Focus Group on metaverse<br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>            <\/div>\n                                                <div data-span=\"6\">\n                    <div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-style-plain is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\">Manuel Barreiro Casta\u00f1eda is the founder and chairman of the Aston Group, a private equity firm with $1 billion in investments to date. The firm develops real estate projects and makes private equity investments with a focus on North America and Europe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mr. Barreiro Casta\u00f1eda is a strategic leader with over 20 years of high-level experience in international real estate, successfully advising public and private sector stakeholders on the intersection of technology, sustainability, mobility, and smart cities. Committed to sustainability, he works to ensure that his firm&#8217;s development projects benefit the local community by improving quality of life, reducing inequality gaps, and positively impacting the environment according to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Actively involved in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), he serves as Vice Chairman of the ITU\u2019s \u201cWorking Group 8 on the Metaverse &#8211; Sustainability, Accessibility &amp; Inclusion,\u201d addressing sustainability, accessibility, and inclusion. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Complementing his industry experience, he completed the Oxford Real Estate Programme and the Oxford Programme on Valuation of Private Assets at the University of Oxford. He also holds an Executive Master of Science (MSc) in Cities from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where he further developed his knowledge in sustainable urban development, mobility, and water management to enhance the quality of life in large cities and small urban areas. This degree also sparked his interest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT), which will be at the center of his projects in the near future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\">Mr. Barreiro Casta\u00f1eda also holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business and a Bachelor&#8217;s in International Business from Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. He completed academic exchange programs at higher learning institutions in Japan and Argentina, where he realized the importance of using technology for the benefit of vulnerable groups. This realization became his life&#8217;s mission \u2014 to create better cities for the future, starting in his native Mexico<\/p>\n<\/div><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>            <\/div>\n                                                <div data-span=\"3\">\n                    <div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\"><div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100px\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\"><div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"96\" height=\"96\" src=\"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/organization-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1460\" style=\"width:74px;height:74px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>Affiliation<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><strong>Aston Group<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>                    <div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\"><div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100px\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\"><div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"96\" height=\"96\" src=\"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Affliation-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1459\" style=\"width:72px;height:72px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>Profession<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><strong>CEO &amp; Founder<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>            <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n\n\n<div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/?page_id=1462\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"standards4dt\"><strong>See all speakers &gt;<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":234,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2768","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2768\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}