Head of the Global Data Service UNHCR - The United Nations Refugee Agency
Volker Schimmel holds an MSc in International Relations and Conflict Studies. Having worked on conflict and displacement research and policy in London, he joined the UN in 2003 starting with UNHCR in the Great Lakes. He worked with OCHA, rolling out the Field Information and Data Management System, and with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) on camp improvement projects and innovative solutions to protracted displacement. Since 2012, when he rejoined UNHCR, he has worked in the Middle-East region and was the Deputy Head of the UNHCR-World Bank Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement. He is currently UNHCR Chief Data officer, heading UNHCR’s Global Data Centre in Copenhagen.
The panel will cover topics on how the donor organizations can provide rapid response to the countries and regions in a crisis, so that countries can build or maintain the necessary infrastructure and digital solutions for e-Government to work. The panelist will also provide suggestions for donor organizations and governments on how to better prepare for and work in crisis situations, what are good examples and what have been the challenges.
