Anni’s research interest lies at the nexus of poverty, place, and politics. She focuses on understanding how the processes and technologies of knowledge making, especially the creation and use of digital mapping tools, affect communities and populations living in marginalized neighborhoods internationally. Before joining the Mansueto Institute, Anni spent four years with Slum Dwellers International (SDI) where she was responsible for SDI’s data ecosystem, from community managed data collection, to data platform management, analysis and partnerships. She led SDI’s efforts at the intersection of organized community groups, researchers, technologists and software developers to create and refine tools, methods and practices for community-driven knowledge production. Anni holds degrees in social anthropology from University Stellenbosch in South Africa.

I am a final year Masters student at the University of Pretoria. My fascination for both Geography and IT has lead me to pursuing a career in Big Data Science. As a data scientist, I get to incorporate into my work and studies my passion for (1) geography and the world around me and (2) the analysis of large amounts of data in order to extract knowledge and insights.

Dickson Chinguwo has since 2014 been involved in community mapping exercises throughout Malawi. He has conducted some training in HEI on mapping using teachOSM. Dickson is one of the administrators of Malawi Spatial Data Portal (MASDAP) - which is an open access portal for sharing spatial data in Malawi. Currently he is pursuing his PhD in Geo-Spatial Science with Ardhi University in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Filip Biljecki is an assistant professor at the National University of Singapore where he established the Urban Analytics Lab, a research group advancing the intersection of 3D city modelling, urban informatics, and geographic data science. He holds a PhD in 3D GIS from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.

Dr Godwin Yeboah is a Senior Research Fellow in Geographic Information Science at the Institute for Global Sustainable Development (IGSD) in the University of Warwick (UK). He is interested in the assessment of, and contribution to, OpenStreetMap data and associated technologies for scientific research and sustainable development (particularly advancing SDG-based research, policy and practice). He is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Since January 2020, Susanne Schröder-Bergen is a PhD student and a Research Fellow at the Institute of Geography at the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. Her research interests concern the role of local expertise in the production of geographic knowledge in the successful VGI project OpenStreetMap.