Senior Innovation Officer, Digital Agriculture Lead (Office of Innovation) , FAO
Henry is a national of the Netherlands with more than 20 years of experience in digital innovation. He has always explored new boundaries for the use of digital solutions for agrifood systems transformation and accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. 
He firmly believes digital technologies are a powerful means of implementing agrifood systems transformation through speed and scale of uptake; reduced deployment costs; growth in public awareness; delivery of innovation, connectivity, productivity and efficiency gains across sectors.      
In the framework of FAO’s work, it is about creating value and impact for achieving the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31, the FAO Science and Innovation strategy and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) action agenda, leaving no one behind. This means special attention for the most vulnerable people; women, youth and the rural poor. 
He leads the FAO Programme Priority Area on Digital Agriculture that is part of the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31, and leads the Digital Agriculture Unit in the FAO Office of Innovation, and acts as Lead Technical Officer of the Global Network of Digital Agriculture Innovation Hubs. 

Chief Scientist ad interim
Ms Crawford, a national of the United States of America, holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration (MPA) from Robert F. Wagner Graduate School, New York University, New York, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California.  She started her career in July 1984 as US Peace Corps volunteer in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She continued her career working as an advisor in the study abroad office at the University of Maryland, College Park, and as a programme associate in the philanthropy department of Chase Manhattan Bank in New York. She joined FAO in January 1997, working at Headquarters in positions from Programme and Budget Officer in the Office of Programme Budget and Evaluation (PBE) to Principal Officer in the Office of Strategy, Planning and Resources Management (OSP). In July 2013, she was appointed FAO Representative to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, based in Sri Lanka, and, in December 2015, she became Regional Programme Leader at FAO’s Regional Office for Africa in Ghana.  In May 2017, Ms Crawford returned to FAO Headquarters as Deputy Director, Office of Strategy, Programme and Budget (OSP) and in January 2019 was appointed Director, OSP.  The Director-General has promoted Ms Beth Crawford to Assistant Director-General level ad 
personam with effect from 1 September 2023 and acts as Chief Scientist ad interim.

Dr. Bassel Daher is the Assistant Director for Sustainable Development at Texas A&M Energy Institute, Adjunct Assistant Professor in Biological & Agricultural Engineering, and Research Fellow at the Institute for Science, Technology, and Public Policy at Texas A&M University. Daher also serves as Senior Fellow at the Microsoft AI Economy Institute, Executive Board Member of the International Water Resources Association (IWRA) and consults for FAO Near East and North Africa regional office. With over 13 years of experience, Dr. Daher focuses on systems approaches to address the complex and interconnected global challenges of food system transformation, energy transition, integrated water management, disaster risk reduction, planetary health, and climate action. His work promotes evidence-based, collective action among cross-sectoral stakeholders to advance sustainable, equitable, and resource-secure futures.

Michael is the Director of Solution Engineering for the Salesforce Solutions team dedicated to the United Nations and World Bank Group. He leads a specialized team responsible for driving digital transformation across global humanitarian, peacekeeping, and development initiatives. With deep expertise in humanitarian and development sector technology, Michael bridges the gap between technical solutions and complex organizational needs, ensuring the successful deployment of scalable open platforms tailored to UN-specific objectives. By managing cross-functional collaboration, Michael ensures solutions align with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), enhancing global coordination, data-driven insights, and operational efficiency. Prior to joining Salesforce Michael spent a decade in the Global Humanitarian & Development Sector in federated CIO roles such as Oxfam International. He was secretary of the board of NetHope, a humanitarian & development sector convenor of 72 nonprofits to drive the use of digital for impact. This included helping develop Open-Source Projects like Front Line Humanitarian Logistics.  Michael is based out of Dublin, Ireland and has a BSc. Computer Science from Trinity College Dublin and an MBA with University of Dublin.

 

Dr. Harinda Katugaha is Senior Strategy Advisor to FAO’s Office of Innovation and a builder at the intersection of AI, entrepreneurship and public impact. A former finance professional with BMW and GM who also served in crisis settings within the UN system (2010 Haiti earthquake; Arab Spring in Tunisia and Libya, Syria, Lebanon, and many other duty stations), he went on to found two startups: a home-services marketplace in Asia and a generative-AI venture in advertising technology. Harinda also co-hosts Rethinking Tech, a podcast on the geopolitics, business and ethics of technology, inviting practitioners to unpack how choices in tech shape markets, policy and society, and vice versa. 

He has advised multiple UN organizations - including three UN Offices of Innovation - on AI, blockchain, operations, supply chains and digital transformation; helped entrepreneurs raise millions; and coached startups from product-market fit through product, operations and finance. Recently, Harinda served as Executive Director for Harvard Business School’s Digital, Data & Design (D^3) Institute in Europe. At FAO, he helps shape innovation strategy and partnerships to move promising ideas from pilots to scalable delivery. Harinda holds an Executive MBA from INSEAD and a doctorate from Bocconi University focused on AI, data governance and human decision-making. 

Dr. Vincent Martin is the Director of the FAO Office of Innovation, leading the Organization’s innovation agenda as part of the Science and Innovation Strategy. With more than 30 years of experience in science, research, and policy as they relate to food security and health, he has held several official positions in the French government, the FAO and the UN in Zimbabwe, China, DPR Korea, Senegal and Guinea. A veterinary epidemiologist by training, Dr. Martin is known for integrating innovation into development, humanitarian, and epidemic response strategies. He holds a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine, a Ph.D. in Agronomic Sciences, and advanced degrees in epidemiology and statistics, and livestock production.

Open Innovation consultant, CIHEAM Bari
Giuseppina Miuli is an expert in Open Innovation and manages international cooperation programs in the domain of education and youth entrepreneurship in the Youth Entrepreneurship & Innovation Ecosystems Unit at CIHEAM Bari. In particular, she is desk officer and international coach of the development cooperation project "Startup10" of CIHEAM Bari funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and which aims at the empowerment of young people and startups from 10 countries in the MedAfrica region and promotes collaboration with Italian companies, and she is tutor and innovation coach of the Master in “Open Innovation & Youth Entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean Agrifood Sector” of CIHEAM Bari. She has a Master’s degree in Economics and Strategies for International Markets at the University of Bari (Italy) and she is co-author of the article «Advancing University-Business Cooperation in the Mediterranean Area» published in the Amfiteatru Economic Journal. 

Chair professor of applied economics and agribusiness, director of Food and Agribusiness Management Institute, Zhejiang University (ZJU). 
Longbao Wei is currently Qiushi chair professor of applied economics and agribusiness, director of Food and Agribusiness Management Institute, Zhejiang University (ZJU).  
His research interests include agricultural and food policy, agribusiness management, digital agriculture strategy, policy and business model. He has presided over 30 national fund or international cooperation projects. He has published more than 100 papers in top domestic and foreign journals such as Social Science in China, Economic Research Journal, Journal of Management World, and Agricultural Economics. He has written and published 14 monographs or textbooks.  
He is the director of the CIDA project ‘Facilitating and Channeling the Reform Trends of Industrialization and Urbanization in the Chinese Countryside’ which was once the largest international cooperation project in social sciences in the history of Zhejiang University. He is one of the key founders of the International Training Program Antipoverty and the International Training Program for Small Farmers Adapting to Global Markets at Zhejiang University. He is deeply involved in the World Bank’s Higher Education Program for Africa, ACE II. As the co-lead of the FAO-ZJU collaboration team, he has organized FAO-ZJU Digital Agriculture Forum 2019, 2020, 2022, FAO-ZJU Global AgriInno Challenge 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025, and FAO-ZJU Digital Agriculture Innovation Bootcamp 2022, 2025. As the co-lead author, he wrote and published the Digital Agriculture Report focusing on rural e-commerce development experience from China through joint forces with FAO. 
Dr. Wei was a Fulbright scholar 2004-2005 at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University. He was adjunct professor at University of Guelph. He also worked at Iowa State University and AGSF, FAO. Currently Dr. Wei is a board member of the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, IFAMA, which he was elected IFAMA fellow of the year 2019. Dr. Wei received his doctorate, master, and bachelor degrees from Zhejiang University.