Thanos Giannakopoulos

Thanos Giannakopoulos is the Chief of the Information Management Section and principal librarian of the Dag Hammarskjöld Library at the United Nations Headquarters. He champions a transformative vision that reimagines the UN Library as a dynamic, accessible space for dialogue, debate, and knowledge exchange among diplomats, researchers, and communities globally. Under his leadership, the Section has strengthened its role in managing UN parliamentary and research outputs, pioneering innovations that bridge access to critical UN content. A hallmark of Thanos’ tenure is the launch and evolution of the United Nations Digital Library—a repository ensuring permanent access to UN resources, furthering the Organization’s mandate to distribute outputs widely. This innovation received the 2021 Jus Gentium Research Award from the American Society of International Law (ASIL), recognizing its impact on global research. In 2024, the system recorded over 62 million downloads from users in 12,000 locations worldwide. 

Thanos has led initiatives central to the UN’s information strategy, including the Strategic Outlook for 2020-2025 (extended through 2028) and Why it Matters, a new publication series. He conceptualized and leads the UN Open Science & Scholarship Conference which in 2023 attracted over 6,000 attendees, and launched projects like the UN grey literature initiative, a linked-data service, a (G)AI prototype, a digitalization and preservation fundraising proposal, and a new information analysis workflow—all built around Open Science and Open Educational Resources principles. 

Thanos holds academic degrees with distinction in Information and Communications studies. Before joining the UN, he served as Chief of Information & Data Centers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). He is a member of the SDG Academy Leadership Council and the  IFLA Advisory Committee on Open Science & Scholarship. 

He can be reached at: Thanos.Giannakopoulos@UN.org