Douglas Beal is a Partner and Managing Director in the Dubai office of The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and is the global leader of BCG's Economic Development Topic Area. Mr Beal has more than 20 years of experience advising governments, development organizations, and companies around the world on strategies and organizational capabilities. His experience and expertise include national development strategies, sector development strategies, and enablers of overall economic and socioeconomic progress.

Mr Beal earned his BS in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from Columbia University. He is the creator and co-author of BCG's Sustainable Economic Development Assessment (SEDA), an objective, fact based measure of the relative well-being of citizens covering 147 countries.

Mr Beal recently gave a TED Talk on “an alternative to GDP that encompasses well-being” and is a regular commentator in the media on economic development, including the Financial Times, Huffington Post, BBC World.