Bente Lilja Bye has been a member of the GEO community since 2004, engaged both as representative in the GEO plenary, in committees and contributing to the GEO Work Programme, represented Norway on the GEO Programme Board and currently active member of the Data working group and co-chair of the Next Generation Earth Observation Services Community Activity. Bente runs a small research and consultancy company, BLB, focusing on transforming Earth observation data to information and knowledge for societal benefit. She is contributing to the operations of NextGEOSS data hub and platform with among others capacity building. Bente is director of innovation in the H2020 project ILIAD, developing digital twins of the ocean.