Our teams

• PhD in remote  sensing - Graduated with a master’s degree in Ecology, biodiversity and evolution at Pierre & Marie Curie University (UPMC - Paris), and a master degree in Remote sensing and geomatics applied to the environment at Paris Diderot University
• Doctoral thesis at IGN FI on “Monitoring forest cover change in tropical and equatorial Africa by remote sensing: evaluation of the potential contribution of new optical and radar satellite sensors" through the use of time series and open-source tools
• Detection of degraded forests using Sentinel-2 optical time series by deep learning
• She also provides training in radar remote sensing, notably in Gabon, Benin, Ethiopia

• Graduated with an Engineering diploma in State geographic and cartographic works (National school of geographic sciences - ENSG), specializing in geographic information systems and master of application of computer science to earth sciences
• Patrick worked for 25 years at the French National Geographic Institute (IGN) as expert in digital mapping, digital processes, database management and quality control
• He joined IGN FI in 2007 and currently works as project manager for land administration projects: implementation of the National land administration information system in Uganda, rural land information system in Ivory Coast

• Graduated from the Foreign Languages and Literature faculty of the University of Bucharest
• Irina worked as production coordinator and project manager at the Romanian branch of IGN FI for 8 years
• She joined IGN FI in 2009 and works on the follow-up and quality control of data before turnover to clients and as a GIS expert. She is part of the team working to implement the National land administration information system project in Uganda

• Graduated as MSc GEOENGINE in Stuttgart (Germany) in 2022, with image processing, LiDAR and navigation (GNSS, IMU) specialisations
• His first experience with IGN FI was a mapping project in Benin (2015-2018) where he managed image processes for DTM and othro/mosaic over the entire country
• In 2018, he joined Argans Ltd on project management about coastal bathymetry using Satellite Derived Baythimetry (SDB)
• During his master in 2021, Valentin worked with Planet Labs and developed the ‘MVS DSM from Planetscope’ algorithm as master thesis.
• He joined back IGN FI in 2022 during a flooding modelling project for airborne data processing (optical, LiDAR)

 

• Graduated from the Law School of Bucharest
• Cristina worked for 10 years as a GIS expert, production coordinator and project manager within the Romanian subsidiary of IGN FI.
• During the following 8 years, she continued her collaboration with IGN FI being involved in several projects of land administration, most notably in Uganda and in Tanzania as a data conversion expert. She is currently responsible for Preliminary study and elaboration of digital cadastral plans in the framework of the FSN project in Cameroon and Team Leader of Data Conversion component of the SIGFU project in Ivory Coast

• Graduated from the National school of geographic sciences (ENSG) and has a post-graduate diploma (DEA) in astronomy, celestial mechanics and geodesy
• Cyril has worked on various geodesy projects around the world, mainly for the Special Projects departments at IGN and IGN FI. Cyril also taught at the ENSG for three years. He has been project manager for many programmes of national and international scope, including geodesy, bathymetry and aerial photography projects in Sudan and South Sudan
• After leading a national geographic infrastructure project (including the production of a national geoid model) in Benin from 2014 to 2017, he has been the project manager in Uganda since 2018 for the creation of a national geodetic network and the establishment of a network of permanent GNSS stations

• Graduated with a diploma specialising in cartography from the National school of geographic sciences (ENSG)
• Alain spent 26 years at IGN Espace working on processing and interpreting satellite images as well as the production of mapping data
• He joined IGN FI in 2016 as a technical expert in mapping & image processing
• He has worked on the following projects among other: national databases and mapping projects in Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin and Chad

• Camille graduated from the Rennes Higher Institute for Agricultural Sciences having specialised in spatial information processing, She has been working for more than 20 years in coordinating international projects, international consortia and multidisciplinary teams
• She joined IGN FI in 1998 as an expert in environment and GIS, then became a project manager. From 2011 to 2020, she coordinated a huge programme of skills transfer and support for local teams in Central and West Africa in the use of satellite images for monitoring land use and land cover dynamics
• She is familiar with the use, production, processing and checking of all types of geographic data. She now leads Innovation and R&D within IGN FI
• She has been Deputy technical manager since 2023

• Graduated with a diploma in specialist engineering  for international development and tropical agronomy from the National Centre for Agronomy Studies and Warm Regions (CNEARC - Montpellier, France), specialising in rural development – land and natural resources management
• Emilie worked between 2005 and 2009 on the National Land Programme in Madagascar as a project manager and then for GEOFIT as a technical adviser on the land security project in the Madagascar uplands.  As an officer and then a consultant for the GRET international solidarity NGO, she took part in running the “Land Administration and Development” Technical Committee in 2009 and 2010.
• As an International Technical Expert (ETI) for the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) she took part from 2011 onwards in the implementation and realignment of the national land policy in Madagascar by developing decentralised land administration services.  She then became a technical adviser for the Ministry for Decentralisation and Local Governance (MDGL) and project manager for the address system project in Benin from 2015 to 2018.
• She joined IGN FI in 2021 as an Expert in rural land administration and natural resource management.

• International Master's degree in "Science and technology for agriculture, food and the environment" (Master 3A), specialising in soil, from Institut Agro Montpellier
• Jean-Abdoulaye joined IGN FI in 2021 as a thematic expert in Ecosystem Natural Capital Accounting (ENCA) and GIS expert. He helped set up ENCA in Guinea, and is involved in various projects in Europe and internationally in the environmental monitoring sector
• He is currently preparing a PhD on the characterisation of ecological connectivity in tropical Africa in order to improve natural capital assessments (with the ThéMA laboratory at the University of Franche Comté, Besançon)

 

• Graduated from the National School of Geographic Sciences (ENSG)
• Stéphane started at the Geodesy and Metrology Department of IGN, on French and international projects. His experience is based on a range of activities for various organizations thereafter: head of the topographic unit in French Polynesia, project manager of cadastral supervision in Nicaragua for IGN FI, and various positions held in the Compagnie Nationale du Rhône (CNR) in specialities such as topography, bathymetry, institutional relations, project and team management
• He joined IGN FI in 2021 as deputy project manager on an urban land project in Ivory Coast (SIGFU)

• Graduated with a degree in the sciences of matter and a master’s degree in geo-hazards and environmental information
• Adrien has participated in several international projects that have enabled him to enhance his experience in the field of geomatics, working on land use, environment and its dynamics. Recently he was coordinator and production method manager of the agro-ecological zoning project in Guinea as well as project manager for the quality assessment carried out on the Corine Land cover 2018 database and its evolutions
• He joined IGN FI in 2015 as an expert in GIS and remote sensing. He also works as a trainer in geomatics for various projects

• Graduated with a degree in agronomy specializing in agricultural development and funding (DEV – ISTOM) & with a Master 2 in Emergent and developing countries dynamics (DynPED – Université Paris1 Panthéon Sorbonne).
• Mathilde has worked in the research field about land tenure dynamics and relations between various key individuals of Mexican rural areas (LMI MESO).
• She joined IGN FI in January 2021 as an expert in rural land administration.

With a PhD in image processing from the University of Toulouse, Antoine went on to successively work for IGN France and CNES during two post-doctorates. After more than 5 years at SIRS/CLS as project manager and then Head of R&D activities, he joined IGN FI in 2024 as Director of Earth Observation projects

• Graduated with a degree in advanced studies in geography, environment and spatial studies using remote sensing, and a degree in ecology from the University of Rennes
• Gabriel is a well-known expert and adviser at the European level in the field of land cover and landscape dynamics using satellite images. Over the past 20 years he has run many cartographic and thematic projects in Europe and internationally
• He joined IGN FI in 1995 as an expert in land cover and a project manager. He has been responsible for quality assurance on a number of projects relating to land cover and its evolution, firstly in Europe as an expert for the European Environment Agency, then in Central and South America and finally in North, Central and West Africa. He is currently running a major project to validate and provide quality assurance for cartographic products in the framework of the COPERNICUS Hot Spot Monitoring programme, made up of a consortium of several European partners
• Gabriel is heavily involved in experimental natural capital ecosystem accounting projects, and he is the author and co-author of several scientific publications

• Apprenticeship professional degree in Environnemental protection and management from the National school of geographic sciences (ENSG)
• Sébastien joined IGN FI in 2018 as an accounting and administrative assistant, then in 2022 he started training again in geomatics
• As a GIS expert, he is involved in the PGIIS project in Senegal

       

• Graduated from the National school of geographic sciences (ENSG)
• Laurent worked at IGN for 28 years in several different departments, and was in charge of the Special Works service in the Geodesy and metrology Department for 10 years. Laurent is also a board member of the AFT (Association of French-speaking Topographers)
• He joined IGN FI in 2021 as “Tenders Adviser”, in charge of the technical co-ordination of tender preparation. He also works as an expert, and takes part in monitoring technological developments relating to all positioning and rise tools

• Graduated from the National school of geographic sciences (ENSG) with an engineering diploma, and Master 2 in software engineering at Télécom ParisTech
• Nicolas joined IGN in 2006 after spending 12 years at the Ministry of Defence. He worked in database administration and production support for the various chains of map production
• He first worked with IGN FI from 2012 until 2016, directing the modernisation project for the Mali Geographic Institute (IGM), which involved a comprehensive skills transfer and resulted in the creation of a national, multi-thematic cartographic database
• From 2016 he worked on setting up a new multi-scale mapping infrastructure enabling IGN’s digital and paper production chains to be modernised and harmonised
• He joined IGN FI in 2021 as a technical expert in GIS/mapping and databases

• Geology studies at university (Toulouse then Bordeaux), graduated with an geometrician diploma from the National school of geographic sciences (ENSG)
• Sylvain then worked for IGN from 2013 to 2022, where he was a technical referent in geodesy and metrology within the geodesy and metrology department (SGM). He has been regularly on mission for IGN FI since 2014: in Haiti, then Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, Senegal, Benin, Uganda, Cameroon.... Alternating with interventions on the field in France, notably on monitoring missions for engineering structures
• He joined IGN FI in January 2023 as a geodesy expert

• Graduated with an Engineering diploma in State Geographic and Cartographic Work from the National school of geographic sciences (ENSG), specializing in geomatics and management of development projects (master’s degree - University of Avignon)
• For 9 years, Yvan worked at the National Institute of Geographic and Forest Information (IGN), first in the vector database production and updating department, then in the IGN Consultancy service
• In 2014, he joined IGN FI as an expert in geographic information systems (GIS) / Databases, and as a project manager.He designs and sets up vector data production chains for projects that require it.He works mainly on the themes of Cadastre / Land registry, Reference Cartography, Environment (Land use cartography), NSDI, and Defence

• Graduated with a master’s degree in geomatics applied to urban studies and risks
• Lukas worked for a proptech start-up in Germany as a geodata expert
• He joined IGN FI in 2021 as a GIS & database expert. He is involved in the SIGFU and PADA projects in Ivory Coast

 

• Graduated with an Engineering diploma from the National school of geographic sciences (ENSG), and postgraduated in remote sensing from the University of Paris 7
• Laurent worked for 14 years at IGN where he participated in the development of digital cameras and then worked on satellite imagery. From 2010 to 2014, he worked with IGN FI as project manager for the national cartography of Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso. He returns to IGN as imagery product Manager
• He joined IGN FI in 2021 as project manager and expert in photogrammetry and spatial imagery. He is notably involved in the flood prevention project in Senegal

 

• Graduted a Master of Science in Sustainable Development Strategies, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and Environment. He specializes in guiding organizations through change management processes.
• Since joining IGN FI in 2021 as part of the urban land modernization project in Ivory Coast, Florian has spent 3 years contributing to the development and implementation of training, communication, and user support strategies.
• He is responsible for the training strategy at IGN FI and the deployment of the e-Learning solution.

• Graduated with a diploma in environmental engineering from the Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, specializing in Geographic Information Sciences (SILAT – AgroParisTech)
• Aurélia has taken part in various projects combining remote sensing, GIS and rural development, in applied research (IRD, CIRAD, IRSTEA) and in project management consultancies (GEOFIT, IGN FI). In particular, she has worked on developing production chains for mapping land use in a wide variety of fields (e.g. agriculture, natural resource management, defence and land administration)
• She worked for GEOFIT from 2016, where she coordinated and provided support for projects to secure land administration in rural areas and establish land information systems internationally (Senegal, Madagascar, Mali and Ivory Coast)
• She joined IGN FI in 2020 as an Expert in rural land administration and natural resource management

• Graduated in computer science and robotics from Ecole Centrale de Lille
• Christophe specialised in geographic information systems in the 1990s. From 2002, he promoted the use of open source software and then initiated the development of an Open Source framework for setting up geoportals with efficient processing tools, whatever the volume of data to be processed Director of the IS department at GEOFIT between 2011 and 2023, he managed major platforms in France and supervised the development of numerous land information systems (LIS) in Uganda, Tanzania, Trinidad & Tobago, etc.
• He joins IGN FI as head of mission, and manages the teams dedicated to the implementation of LIS and project geoportals in Mali and Côte d'Ivoire (SIGFU).

 

• Graduated from the 3iL IT Engineering Institute in Limoges with an engineer’s diploma then continued his studies to obtain a master’s degree in IT
• He joined IGN FI in 2004 as IT manager
• He has participated as an IT expert in numerous international projects, such as land projects in Tanzania, Uganda, Trinidad and Tobago, Ivory Coast, Senegal, etc.
• Thanks to his years of experience at IGN FI, Grégoire has excellent skills in IT security, database management systems and in the field of server and network infrastructures, particularly in complex contexts (unstable electricity supply, degraded local computer networks or intermittent Internet access)

• Graduated from Télécom Physique Strasbourg with an engineering degree and master 2 postgraduate degree in photonics and image
• Stéphane started his career as a project manager in remote sensing and geographic information systems at the Ministry of Defence and then at the Ministry of Ecology, before joining Geofit in 2013 where he managed international projects on information systems
• He joined IGN FI in 2019

• Graduated with a master’s degree in Geography, specialising in Physical and Environmental geography
• Arthur joined IGN FI in 2018 as a remote sensing and GIS expert, to produce the land use database for the agro-ecological zoning project in the Republic of Guinea
• He is involved in geomatics projects in the environmental field
• Since 2024, he has been Commercial Manager for IGN FI for the Ivory Coast

 

• Graduated from the National School of Geographic Sciences (ENSG)
• Christophe has worked at IGN for the last 29 years on various phases of the process to create national geographic data infrastructures
• He joined IGN FI in 2007

 

• Graduated from Sciences Po Paris with a master's degree in urban governance
• Alix began her career in Brazil, where she worked for 2 years in the field of mobility in São Paulo. She then joined MEDEF International in Paris, where she was in charge of the Sustainable City task force for 4 years
• She joined IGN FI in 2023

• Graduated from the Montpellier Business School and the University of Sichuan (China)
• Gaëtan worked for a large French industrial group in a sales position before spending 4 years in China working as a sales manager in the field of energy
• He joined IGN FI in 2014

 

 

• Graduated from a Business School with an M2 postgraduate degree in international marketing and international relations and languages
• Aude has always worked in business development and marketing on projects related to emerging countries
• She joined IGN FI in 2008

 

Geographer and urban & physical planner graduated from Sorbonne University (France), Jean-Philippe has nearly 32 years of experience in a variety of activities related to land governance, land administration, territorial, physical and spatial planning, GIS, and urban development. Jean-Philippe’s experience includes being a Team Leader and holding senior consulting positions working with a broad range of donor agencies, which have given him in-depth, hands-on roles in project design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. He has been the Director business development at IGN FI since 2019.

A graduate of the Master's in Finance and Strategy at Sciences Po Paris, Auriane Sacoman managed a cartography company from 2010 to 2018. She then held management positions in a variety of structures and fields (visual production and performing arts). In 2022, she began working with IGN FI as an independent consultant on an aeronautical mapping project for the Senegalese Air Force. In September 2024, she was appointed Deputy Managing Director of IGN FI.  

Geographic and cartographic State engineer and graduated in geodesy from the University of New Brunswick (Fredericton in Canada), Aurélie worked as a consultant in geomatics in France and abroad for 8 years. She then took over management of the IGN Conseil team for 6 years. She has been Deputy Director General - Technical and Quality Director at IGN FI since 2008.

Geographic and cartographic State engineer, specialized in photogrammetry (DEA), Christophe Dekeyne worked for 10 years as a project leader then a product manager developing the topographic database (BDTopo) of the French National Geographic Institute (IGN). He joined the IGN FI team in 2000 and after 2 spending years as a technical expert, he became European Manager and then Business Development Manager from 2006 to 2013. He was named as Senior advisor for European and International Affairs of IGN in 2014 before being appointed General Manager of IGN FI and took office on 1 July 2015.

Eric Thalgott has been the director of the GEOFIT group since the year 2000. He started his career in Nouakchott, Mauritania in1988, participating in a project on the informal regularization of housing. He joined GEOFIT Expertise in 1988 before being named as head of GEOFIT’s topographical department for the west of France in 1989, then Director of the ‘Ile de France’ establishment in 1992, Geomatic projects in 1996 and CEO of the GEOFIT Group’ in 2000.