Strategic and innovative executive with a strong background in Consulting, Operations Management, and Information Technology. Proven ability in business management and exceptional performance in helping organizations optimize productivity, efficiency, and profitability by leveraging technology and business process improvement. Extensive expertise with global markets.
Since 2022, Executive Director of the African & Caribbean Innovation, Technical Assistance & Technology Center. The center is central institution of the Africatown project in Philadelphia and will serve the global African Diaspora.
Since 2020, Director or the Africa Geospatial Hub for the US State Department. In this role, oversee projects that leverage geospatial data to improve the resiliency of state and local governments. The goal is to help countries improve their emergency management capabilities with focus on climate change, infrastructure, health care and education.
Worked with the Prime Minister Office in Cameroon to define a growth strategy with a 5% GDP impact in 3 years through a set of activities and policy changes that focused on strategic government agencies/ministries and private corporations. The result was a transformation agenda for sustainable growth and job creation.
On the heels of Cameroon’s 2035 plan, designed a strategy and roadmap for the Ministry of Finance and the Cameroon Financial Market Commission to revitalize the Financial Market in Cameroon starting in 2018 and make it easier for successful businesses to gain access to financing.
Working with the Ministry of Agriculture on the overarching strategy and implementation of Cameroon’s 2nd generation Agriculture framework. Has enabled the ministry and Cameroon corporations to build relationships with major US businesses and vendors interested and ready to buy from Cameroon and brand their agro products in the US.
In 2016, launched a small and medium business modernization, transformation, and growth acceleration program in partnership with Microsoft, the Ministry of Small Business, the Agency of Small and Medium Businesses (APME), the Cameroon Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Craft (CCIMA) and the Small Business Bank (BC-PME). The program objective was to modernize and accelerate growth for 20,000 SMB and create 8000 high paying jobs for Cameroon graduates.
In partnership with the Ecole Polytechnique in Yaoundé (top Engineering school in Central Africa) launch an incubation and training program, for young people and university graduates in 2015. Thus far trained ~2000+ graduates.
From 1996 to 2006, Gaston held multiple management positions at KPMG in Europe and the US.
Gaston holds a PhD and a master’s in computer science from the University of Technology Dresden, Germany. He is the co-author of the “Accelerating Business Growth in Emerging Economies framework,” a strategy geared for emerging economies to help them build the necessary capacities to create jobs and compete in the global economy. He was Associate Professor at the University of Technology Dresden, Germany and at the University of Maryland, Global Campus.