Takaaki Masaki is a Senior Economist in the Poverty and Equity Global Practice. His current work focuses on developing the applications of GIS and big data analytics in improving poverty estimation at a geographically granular level, informing spatial targeting of investments, and understanding the distributional impact of policy interventions. Prior to joining the Bank, Taka worked as a Senior Research Analyst at AidData, a development research lab at the College of William and Mary. He holds a PhD in Political Science from Cornell University.