Guo Huadong is Director-General of the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS), and a professor of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Aerospace Information Research Institute. He is an Academician of CAS, a Fellow of TWAS, a Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and a Foreign Member of the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters.
He presently serves as Honorary President of International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE), Director of International Center on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage (HIST) under the Auspices of UNESCO, Chair of Digital Belt and Road Program (DBAR), and Editor-in-Chief of two scientific journals International Journal of Digital Earth and Big Earth Data Journal.
He served as Member of UN 10-Member Group to support the Technology Facilitation Mechanism for SDGs, President of ISDE and ICSU Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA). Prof. Guo specializes in remote sensing, radar for Earth observation, and Digital Earth science. He has published more than 500 papers and 24 books, and is the awardee of 19 international and domestic prizes.
Prof. Guo is one of the most recognized scientists in China and is well known internationally. He has actively contributed to and participated in international efforts towards sustainability. With an extremely strong profile recognized already by many awards, Prof. Guo works across scales from local to global with a focus on global Big Earth Data & SDGs.
In 2021, the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS) was officially established, and Prof. Guo was nominated as the Director General. It received congratulatory messages from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, three UN Under-Secretaries-General, and Chinese President Xi.
In 2019, Prof. Guo, of the UN 10 Member Group to Support the Technology Facilitation Mechanism, was moderator of the STI for inclusive and equitable societies during the Fourth Multi-stakeholder Forum on STI for SDGs at the United Nations headquarters.
Prof. Guo led his team to establish the SDG Big Data Platform, aiming to integrate Big Earth Data for SDG monitoring and prediction. The platform integrates modules of supercomputing, big data cloud computing, data storage, and high-speed networks.
In 2017, Prof. Guo attended the 32nd ICSU General Assembly and gave a talk about IRDR. In 2011, ICSU, ISSC, and the UNISDR selected the institute where he was Director General to host the IRDR-IPO, “the first time an international office of this type has been hosted in Asia”.
In 2016, Prof. Guo initiated the Digital Belt and Road Program (DBAR) to promote international cooperation that renders big data applications integral to dealing with environmental and societal challenges and attaining SDGs in the Belt and Road region. He signed an MoU with the African Association of Remote Sensing of the Environment (AARSE).
In 2006, the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE) was officially established, and went on to become a member of ISC. Prof. Guo was the key founder of ISDE.
Prof. Guo attaches great importance to scientific cooperation between developed and developing countries. He promoted collaboration between his institute and the US Geological Survey in 2013. Based on this cooperation, he initiated the Earth Observation Data Sharing Program, which has provided hundreds of terabytes of data to thousands of users.
Prof. Guo introduces his “Remote Sensing for Environment of Angkor Site (REAS)” project to H.E. Mr. Sok An, the Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister.
In 2011, Prof. Guo served as the President of CODATA and attended the 56th CODATA Executive Committee Meeting at the CODATA headquarters in Paris.
In 2021, Prof. Guo was the recipient of the ISC Science for Sustainability Award for outstanding scientific contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals using an interdisciplinary approach.
The 2021 Prize
All 2021 awardees received an original piece of art by scientific photographer Karl Gaff who specializes in microscopy art. Prof. Guo received ‘Yellow Lichen’.
