Takaaki Masaki is an 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.