I hold a Ph.D. in computer science, with a large record in various areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Cognitve Robotics, Mobile Interfaces, Qualitative Spatial Reasoning, ICT for Development, and Geodata Provision. A special focus in recent years is Disaster Management with Mobile Devices.

Currently, I am mainly working with the Sahana Software Foundation, mostly in projects related to natural disasters in South and Southeast Asia. Until 2015, I was the manager of the Capacity Lab at the University of Bremen, which I developed into one of the leading research institutions for ICT4D in Germany.

I did my Ph.D. in machine learning. My book “Qualitative Spatial Abstraction for Reinforcement Learning” is available through Springer. For eight years, I was a researcher in the Collaborative Research Center SFB/TR 8 “Spatial Cognition”. I worked with humans, computers, and robots. I like them all.

I always enjoyed (and still do) practical software development. I am fluent in quite a few imperative and functional programming languages and fond of agile development. I know how develop a project and managed quite a few large software projects. I am a fan of agile development and a certified SCRUM master.

I truly believe that technology can – and must – be used to the benefit of all people. Good software is possible. I believe that equal access to modern information systems is essential for fighting poverty and social disparity. That’s what I’m working for.