Dirk Vanhoudt is responsible for the research roadmap on the digitalization of district heating and cooling systems at VITO/EnergyVille, an independent research center in Belgium. He has been active in the field of district heating and cooling networks for over 15 years, primarily through Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects. His research focuses on the smart control of 4th generation systems, as well as fault detection and diagnosis. At the 19th International Symposium on District Heating and Cooling, he served as Chairman of the Scientific Committee, overseeing the selection of presentations and papers published in these proceedings.