DesignLab UTwente

The Master's insert 'Shaping Responsible Futures' at the University of Twente has been nominated for the Dutch Higher Education Award. The study programme, in which Master's students follow an in-depth programme in transdisciplinary work outside their regular study programme. The focus is always on a topical and complex socially relevant issue. The Master's Insert is an initiative of the DesignLab of the University of Twente.

With her work, designer Lisa Mandemaker wants to bring the future closer to us. She has taken on the role of designer-in-residence at the University of Twente’s DesignLab. So how can a designer benefit the academic world? ‘Some things you can’t put into words.’

The University of Twente’s (UT) Digital Transformation course, which is taught at and in cooperation with Achmea and the Dutch Tax Authority (Belastingdienst), recently delivered its second batch of graduates. Fifty participants were awarded their certificates. UT scientists have teamed up with professionals from Achmea and the Dutch Tax Authority to develop the knowledge and skills needed to bring about digital transformation. The course is part of the Centre for Security and Digitalisation (CVD) in Apeldoorn, where businesses and knowledge institutions join forces with the aim of creating a secure digital society.

Both Achmea and the Tax Authority are currently undergoing a digital transformation. The course participants are eager to understand the challenges and opportunities their organisations will encounter on this journey. They also want to reflect on what this means for the organisation’s strategy and their own role within it. Making the connection between academic knowledge and skills on the one hand and the daily practice of the participants on the other hand is therefore essential.

In the last couple of months, the first meetings have been held with elderly people who themselves will come up with small practical solutions that can make their lives easier. And soon they will be able to make these themselves in one of the public libraries in the Twente region. After the pilots started by ActiZ, ANBO and the University of Twente, this should become possible throughout the country.