Brian Gillikin is a dual-career PhD fellow at UNU-MERIT and Maastricht University.
His research interests include analytics in data-scarce contexts, the socio-technical aspects of innovation, natural disasters and crisis resilience, and holistic approaches to AI systems and data science for sustainable development. Brian currently works as a technical lead and data scientist at IBM, where he leads technical delivery for USAID’s health supply chain projects in Africa. Prior to IBM, he managed development, technology, and education projects in Europe and the South Caucasus funded by the OECD, UNESCO, the U.S. Department of State, and the European Commission. He is also an adjunct lecturer in data science at University of Maryland’s College of Information Studies. He holds an M.S. in Information Technology and an M.S. in Public Policy & Management from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as an M.A. in Social Sciences (Technology Governance) from Tallinn University of Technology. He is the recipient of multiple fellowships, including as a Boren Fellow in Estonia and Fulbright Specialist in India.