prof.dr. M.J.C. van den Homberg MBA (Marc)

Marc van den Homberg is the scientific lead of 510, an initiative of The Netherlands Red Cross. He is a full Professor on the Princess Margriet Chair “Data for disaster resilience” at ITC/Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation, focusing on enhancing the quality of risk and impact data, trigger models for anticipatory action (preparedness), and selecting, monitoring, and building evidence for nature-based solutions (prevention). 

He is a member of IFRCs Early Action Protocol Validation Committee Advisory, the Advisory Board of WMO The High-Impact Weather Project (HIWeather), the Valorisation panel NWO project Disastrous Information: Embedding “Do No Harm” principles into innovative geo-intelligence workflows for effective humanitarian action, NWO user’s committee of Veni grant Bridging the gap between Artificial Intelligence and society: Developing responsible and viable solutions for geospatial data and of NWO Applied and Engineering Sciences Open Technology Program Learning from old maps to create new ones

Marc has helped shape the growth of 510 from its inception in 2016 by developing and implementing an applied research agenda tailored to the needs of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement and establishing close collaborations with universities and knowledge institutes. This has led to evidence and peer review of products and services -that the Netherlands Red Cross has introduced into the Movement- aiming to improve the quality, speed, and cost-effectiveness of humanitarian action. Before joining 510, Marc led and co-founded the ICT for Development (ICT4D) team within TNO, the Netherlands Research and Technology Organization, with which he implemented pro-poor ICT innovations. Marc holds a PhD in physics from Delft University of Technology, an MSc in physics from Utrecht University, an MBA from Rotterdam School of Management, and a disaster management certificate from IFRC/Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

Organisations

• Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), Department of Applied Earth Sciences (AES)