Iliya Nickelt is the Chief Data Scientist at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

In 2022, he set up BMZ’s data lab. Together with an interdisciplinary team of data scientists, he develops AI applications, infrastructure, visualizations and other tools for modern, data-driven policymaking. In addition to engaging with international data-policy work, for example through cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme, the lab is focused on large language model applications for structured and unstructured data.

Iliya Nickelt holds a PhD in astrophysics and worked on cloud precursors and on standards for internationally federated databases. In the late 1990s he was also active within the Internet self-regulatory organization “ICANN”.