Dr. Patricia McCarney

President and CEO of the World Council on City Data, Director Global Cities Institute, University of Toronto

Patricia McCarney is President and CEO of the World Council on City Data (WCCD) and is a professor of Political Science and the Director of the Global Cities Institute at the University of Toronto, Canada. 

Professor Patricia McCarney received her Ph.D. from M.I.T. in 1987. She has served as Associate Vice President, International Research and Development at the University of Toronto.

Before Joining the University of Toronto, between 1983 and 1994, Professor McCarney worked as a professional staff member in a number of international agencies, including the World Bank in Washington, and the United Nations - HABITAT in Nairobi.

Patricia McCarney is currently a member of the ISO Technical Committee 268, Sustainable Development in Communities, where she is Chair of the Working Group on City Indicators. She was integral to the development of the newly published ISO 37120, the first International Standard for Cities. This ISO Working Group is building a family of international standards on global city indicators for sustainable cities, resilient cities and smart cities.

Leading the World Council on City Data, Patricia McCarney is building a globally standardized database for cities worldwide in conformity with ISO 37120, the first ISO Standard for Cities. As host of this new knowledge platform, the WCCD is positioned to be the leading global city database with standardized, verified, comparable and open city data.