Contact our Experts

Tomaž Petek

President of EuroGeographics

Areas of interest:

• Future roles for National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities.
• Political and policy benefits of harmonised European data and data services from official national sources.
• Strategic and technical transformation of geo-information organisations to meet the challenges and opportunities of OpenData, disruptive technologies and demand for authoritative data

Tomaž Petek is General Manager of the Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia

He is a public sector specialist with extensive experience in geodetic authority, geoinformation, land cadastre, spatial data infrastructure and governmental reform. Tomaž  is actively involved in the activities of UN-GGIM, He sits on the UN-GGIM: Europe Executive Committee and was its Chair until 2023.

Tomaž is a graduate of the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture, Civil and Geodetic Engineering (Bcs) and holds a Masters from the University of Maribor, Faculty of Organisational Sciences Kranj.

Sallie Payne

Secretary General & Executive Director EuroGeographics

Areas of interest:

• Proactive  leadership to ensure official national map data and cadastre of all members is present, visible and recognised as indispensable in meeting global challenges.
• The fundamental role of official national map data and cadastre in European society.
• Facilitating mutually-beneficial partnerships organisations with shared objectives, common interests and complementary expertise.
• Using official national map data and cadastral services to deliver European Union priorities and policies.
• The political, policy and legislative context in which EuroGeographics’ members operate, with a particular focus on data availability. 

Sallie Payne Snell is Secretary General and Executive Director of EuroGeographics. A highly respected senior manager, she has an international network of geospatial contacts gained through extensive relationship and reputation management experience.

Sallie represents EuroGeographics in its capacity as Observer Organisation at both the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) and UN-GGIM: Europe.

Her previous positions include Deputy Director, Association for Geographic Information and International Stakeholder Relationship Manager, Ordnance Survey.  She holds a BSc in geographical science.

Karin Mertens

Chair of Quality Knowledge Exchange Network

Area of interest:

• Quality as the ‘calling card’ of National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities.

Data quality expert, Karin Mertens is Chair of EuroGeographics Quality Knowledge Exchange Network.

Karin is Quality Control Manager at NGI.

As Chair of the Quality Knowledge Exchange Network, Karin leads a European network of data quality experts who share best practice and exchange experiences to support data interoperability.

The expert group is particularly interested in the challenges associated with an increased use of technology and its impact on quality systems. Tracking and sharing information about these is a key focus for its members.

Marcin Grudzień

Chair of the INSPIRE Knowledge Exchange Network

Area of interest:

• Implementation of INSPIRE by National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities.

National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) specialist, Marcin Grudzień chairs EuroGeographics INSPIRE Knowledge Exchange Network.

Marcin is Deputy Director Strategy, International Cooperation and Public Information Department for the Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography (GUGIK) in Poland. His experience includes coordinating the national technical implementation of the INSPIRE Directive and he also took an active role in building Poland’s fourth-biggest public sector IT system, addressing technical, semantic, operational and legal aspects for its stakeholders.

The purpose of the INSPIRE Knowledge Exchange Network is to help members to implement the Directive by following the development of the regulations, establishing a network of INSPIRE experts and sharing experiences and best practice.

Vents Priedoliņš

Co-Chair of Cadastre and Land Registry Knowledge Exchange Network

Areas of interest:

• Cadastral development, including 3D Cadastre and Cadastre of underground facilities, and the benefits to society.
• Interoperability of information systems and data exchange between them.
• Use of remote sensing data and artificial intelligence to update Cadastral data.
• Acquisition, storage and use of building data in the Cadastral information system.

Vents Priedoliņš is Co-Chair of the Cadastre and Land Registry Knowledge Exchange Network (CLR KEN).

He has extensive expertise in cadastral surveying of buildings, geospatial solutions and data quality issues, and is currently Cadastre Development Manager at the State Land Service, Latvia.

Vents’ academic background in mathematics enables him to make connections between different processes, and he has vast experience of driving cooperation within and between national and international institutions.

Vents is fluent in 4 languages and is one of the few speakers of the almost extinct ‘Liv’ language.

Jolien Neckebroeck

Co-Chair of Cadastre and Land Registry Knowledge Exchange Network

Jolien Neckebroeck is Co-Chair of the Cadastre and Land Registry Knowledge Exchange Network (CLR KEN).

Jolien is Head of the Valuations Department at the Belgian Cadastre. She and her team are responsible for monitoring changes to Belgian real estate and updating the cadastral documentation. They value real estate in Belgium and abroad for tax purposes and develop tools that allow all cadastral services in Belgium to manage the patrimony.

With her background in international relations and diplomacy, Jolien is also a pivotal figure between the Belgian Cadastre and numerous external partners at national, regional and international level.