Hamid Mehmood

Hamid Mehmood

Hamid is currently working as an Economic Affairs Officer for the Space Applications Section at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok, Thailand, a position he has held since March 2022. Here, he is responsible for developing and implementing innovative applications of space technologies to promote sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region. As a part of this, he is also contributing to the development of the Regional Space Applications Program, which focuses on the use of space-based technologies to support sustainable development goals. He is also the Steering Committee Member at GEO Blue Planet. 

Before joining the United Nations, Hamid worked as a Project Officer and Senior Researcher at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment, and Health in Hamilton, Canada. During his four-year tenure, he also served as the Coordinator of the Water Learning Center, an online platform for water management professionals to access training, capacity development, and knowledge-sharing opportunities. He was also an Adjunct Professor at McMaster University, where he taught courses on GIS, remote sensing, and environmental modelling. 

Prior to his work in Canada, Hamid served as the Capacity Development Lead at the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center in Bangkok, Thailand, where he led the development of training materials and courses on GIS and remote sensing for disaster risk reduction professionals in the Mekong region. He was also the GIS Team Lead for Management System International, where he managed a team of GIS specialists to support USAID projects in Pakistan. He also served as an Assistant Professor at the National University of Sciences and Technology/Institute of Space Technology in Islamabad, Pakistan, where he taught courses on remote sensing, GIS, and spatial data analysis. 

Hamid’s education includes a Ph.D. in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems and a Master’s degree in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems, both from the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand. Additionally, he is a certified ITIL v4 Foundation professional, Prince2 Foundation and a GISP Certified Professional. 

Hamid’s research interests include AI for good, digital technologies, participatory modelling, citizen science, data cubes, analysis-ready data, big Earth data, and applications of distributed ledger and smart contracts to achieve SDGs. He has published several papers, reports and strategic foresight on these topics. 

Hamid is a recognised expert in his field and has been invited to speak at several international conferences and events. He is a member of several professional associations, including the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR), and the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS).

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  • Organization
    UNESCAP (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific)
  • Profession
    Economic Affairs Officer
Related sessions
26 June 2024
10:00 - 11:00 CEST Geneva | 04:00-05:00 EDT, New York | 16:00-17:00 CST, Beijing
Hamid Mehmood (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific), Maria Antonia Brovelli (Politecnico di Milano)

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