Damien Jacques is a freelance consultant in data innovation for development. He has led projects across the globe requiring (i) designing and implementing algorithms to extract key insights from large unstructured data, (ii) develop strategies to leverage the entire data value chain of companies and development agencies; and (iii) successfully scale up data solutions in complex and multi-stakeholder ecosystem. He has established a strong academic track record through several projects in Data Science and AI for social good (including projects in food security, poverty and agricultural economics). His projects involve the use of mobile phone data and satellite images and GIS, machine learning and geostatistics analyses in Europe, Central America and Africa. He was awarded the Agriculture prize in the Data For Development (D4D) challenge organized by Orange, MIT, and the UN. Damien holds a Ph.D. in Bioengineering and Agronomy from the catholic University of Louvain.
