What is your background? 

Originally I was trained in plant protection at the Wageningen University but I spent all my life in the area of information management. I am working with the FAO on agricultural information management for many years until now. Currently I am the responsible for research data management at the Wageningen University. I am especially working on the implementation of research management data policies.

How are you connected to the IGAD interest group?

I am an IGAD IG member and I am also involved in related networks and initiatives like CIARD, GODAN, AIMS etc. Furthermore I was involved in previous meetings.

What did you expect from the IGAD meeting?

I was looking forward to meet people with different backgrounds in this meeting and to get to know the faces of persons from known projects. Of course I expect also to get a better idea of how to move on with the IGAD interest group.

What did you learn/take from  in this meeting?

Indeed I have learned about different ideas in this meeting that have the potential to be elaborated more but we did not get to concrete results about what IGAD should be. I think that this needs more time to be worked out. However many interesting issues have been raised but the next question would be what can really be implemented.

New to me was the role that journals and learning societies can play for data management in agriculture. These groups are not yet involved but they can really have an impact. For me that is a valuable new insight. In general I liked that during this meeting we were exposed to all sorts of initiatives and ideas from our area. That was very inspiring.

How will the meeting influence your future work?

As I am teaching resource data management I appreciate to know about other developments in this area. Furthermore the contacts that I could become very important for my future work. These new exchanges could enrich my work.

Do you have any further comment?

Yes, I would like to say that as there are so many different institutions and associations in this area that I don*t blame people for getting confused with all these.