Community

We make the Digital Society School

The Digital Society School is made by many of us. Students, researchers, relations in business and government and university staff form an ever growing network of kindred spirits. However, below are the people that work on making DSS a success on a day to day basis. Do you have a question? One of these people is sure to answer it.

Jelger Kroese
Leiden University, Centre for Innovation
Netherlands
Jelger Kroese

digital society ambassador

Leiden University, Centre for Innovation Netherlands

I work with researchers and educators to explore new ways of translating theory to experience. Through creating software, interactive installations and tangible metaphors, I build experiences that challenge people to open up their curiosity and allow new perspectives on a cognitive, affective and embodied level. Next to working at my own studio, I lead the creative and technical development of AR and VR projects at Leiden University's Centre for Innovation. We focus on creating solutions for education and (mental) healthcare. A question that currently keeps me busy is: how can we make use of collective awe experiences to improve both personal and societal well-being?

Portfolio
Marcel Schouwenaar
The Incredible Machine
Netherlands
Marcel Schouwenaar

digital society ambassador

The Incredible Machine Netherlands

Marcel Schouwenaar is co-founder of design studio The Incredible Machine, operating on the intersection between design, technology, and ethics. Their projects range from designing museum experiences, digital strategy for startups, speculative design in academic context, to lighthouse projects exploring citizen interaction with urban technology systems. Marcel will join the Digital Twin Track as ambassador for the program, contributing his expertise in responsible design, development and application of technology in the context of wicked problems. Digital twins have the potential to create a shared digital reality, upon which we can design, model and monitor interventions. The question is, who partakes in this conversation, how do we interact, and how can we understand how codified abstractions do, or don’t do justice to the intricacies of reality.

Portfolio
Michelle Chakkalackal

Canada
Michelle Chakkalackal

digital society ambassador

Canada

Michelle is a serial social entrepreneur who helps companies lead systemic change. I help companies align their (social) impact, business models, leadership capacity, and teams to deliver scalable results. I see leaders, their teams, and their companies as part of interlinked living systems. Change one part, it has the potential to change the whole.

Iskander Smit
INFO
Netherlands
Iskander Smit

digital society ambassador

INFO Netherlands

Iskander Smit is innovation director at Amsterdam based digital agency INFO. Iskander is also a visiting professor at Delft University of Technology. He is co-director of Cities of Things Delft Design Lab, chairman of Dutch chapter of ThingsCon and organiser at Behavior Design AMS.

Portfolio
Sander Veenhof
SNDRV
Netherlands
Sander Veenhof

digital society ambassador

SNDRV Netherlands

With a background in ICT and the arts, I’m a cross-over person. As a hands-on researcher I’m creating semi-fictional and semi-functional speculative projects to explore unforeseen possibilities, dilemma’s and future problems, for which I pre-emptively try to find solutions.

Portfolio
Yuna Song
Drift / YS creative
South Korea
Yuna Song

digital society ambassador

Drift / YS creative South Korea

I love to design immersive and aesthetic physical experience in a space. Through my relationship with DSS, I’d love to contribute to the society with designing from digital to physical creation.

Portfolio
Jacintha Scheerder
We the Future
Netherlands
Jacintha Scheerder

digital society ambassador

We the Future Netherlands

Mesmerized by the future Jacintha is (re)searching what tomorrow will bring. She's a phrenetic future-thinker and -dreamer, fond of using different scientific foresight methods to bring the unthinkable and 'unknowns' a bit closer.

Joost Plattel

Netherlands
Joost Plattel

digital society ambassador

Netherlands

I’m Joost Plattel, a data-strategist. I help organizations and individuals develop and build strategies for data-related questions and opportunities. I create experimental models, data visualizations, APIs and dashboards to solve these questions or explore the opportunities. The question I try to answer is: How do we use all the data generated every second? How do we turn it into information, to knowledge and finally wisdom? I’m often asked to give lectures and talks about data, experiments, ethics and difficult or weird questions to make people think.

Portfolio
Merel van der Woude
Butterfly Works
Netherlands
Merel van der Woude

digital society ambassador

Butterfly Works Netherlands

Merel is the creative director of social design studio, Butterfly Works. She leads co-creation processes all over the world to ensure end users are involved in the design of new and innovative education and communication solutions within international development.

Portfolio
Robert Overweg
Triple
Netherlands
Robert Overweg

digital society ambassador

Triple Netherlands

Robert uses design and technology to improve companies and to make people’s lives better. In his life and profession he has several roles. Design + Strategy: Vodafone, Liberty Global Keynote speaker: SXSW, MIT, Next Artist: Centre Pompidou, Media Biennial Seoul Writer: The Next Web Let’s change something together

Portfolio

ARE YOU OUR NEXT TRAINEE?

An traineeship at Digital Society School will open up a world of opportunities. You’ll be part of a vibrant interdisciplinary group during a semester and have unique access to a network of experts in the field.

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Become a partner

We are looking for partners who understand that positive impact on society can go hand in hand with value creation for their own organisation. Professionals who are ready for digital, integral solutions for ‘people, planet and profit’. Are you up for it?

Partners