As Program Manager Urban Data & Intelligence, Thijs develops projects to explore how digital technologies can advance the public interests of the city and be applied in line with democratic values and processes.
Thijs comes from a background in social sciences and has worked extensively in the field of energy. His innovation projects included topics such as electric mobility, smart charging and creating synergies between transportation and energy infrastructures.
At Alliander, he started the Democracy by Design project, which focused on the relationship between smart infrastructures and democratic values and processes. In 2018 Thijs’ team won a Dutch Design Award for building the first “Prototype of a Transparent Charging Station”. This project explored the design of smart objects in public spaces while concurrently explaining to users the rationale of their behavior.
In his spare time, Thijs enjoys build interactive objects with Arduino and has also explored ice-cream making.
Thijs’ work is inspired by his observation that digital technologies have not benefitted humans in equal ways yet. He believes in the importance of proving the power of digital technologies adhering to equalitarian values and furthering the public interest of the city.
“Instead of serving our individual short-term interests, digital technology should target long-term collective interests.”