Sven Gilliams

With a background in agricultural engineering, Sven Gilliams has dedicated over two decades to the dynamic intersection of remote sensing and agriculture. Having successfully completed his studies at KULeuven, Sven started his career at the VITO remote sensing unit, where his expertise evolved across various roles over the years. He started as project researcher on the European Space Agency (ESA) funded project on Global Monitoring for Food Security (GMFS), moved to project lead, African projects team lead and Agricultural applications team lead, where he has coordinated several international projects ranging from global agricultural monitoring and mapping to local precision farming, combining a.o. Copernicus EO-, meteo - and in-situ- data sets with artificial intelligence. The last position he held at VITO was international business development manager for the VITO remote sensing application group, during that time he was also leading; the ESA WorldCereal project and was an active member of the Group on Earth Observation (GEO) Global Agricultural Monitoring (GEOGLAM) Executive Committee co-leading the Essential Agricultural Variables (EAV) and In-situ data working groups. Since November 1st, 2023, Sven Gilliams has assumed the role of Program Director for the GEOGLAM Initiative. In this capacity, he continues to drive innovation, international collaboration, and excellence in leveraging geospatial technologies for global agricultural sustainability.