Dr Barkawi Mansour is an entrepreneur and applied remote sensing researcher. He holds a PhD in Remote Sensing, GIS and Environment and is also the founder and CEO of Drone Service Niger, a company that utilises geospatial technology and artificial intelligence to improve livelihoods and increase climate resilience in fields such as agriculture, environmental management, mining, construction, and more.
With over seven years of professional experience, he has held positions in international organisations such as GIS Consultant at Millennium Challenge Account, Morocco and Head of the 3D department (Geomatics, Drone, Lidar, BIM, Precision Agriculture) at XY CONCEPT, Rabat, Morocco.
Aside from his entrepreneurial activities, he is also passionate about training students in remote sensing and cutting-edge technologies such as drones, Lidar, and AI. He regularly supports student associations through training and conferences, sharing his knowledge and expertise with the younger generations.
Dr Barkawi’s research focuses on remote sensing and geospatial science. His thesis work led to the development of a resilience solution for agriculture. Given the frequent agricultural problems Niger faced, he utilised remote sensing, EO data, and GIS to develop a new agricultural drought index, Agricultural Drought Condition Index (ADCI), to detect, monitor, and measure the onset, spatial extent, and intensity of agricultural drought in Niger. His experience and commitment to remote sensing and cutting-edge technologies have made him an important figure in his community and beyond.