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On 2 January, I joined Dialogic as a junior researcher/advisor. Like some other Dialogicians, I studied Technical Innovation Sciences (formerly Technology & Society) at the Eindhoven University of Technology. This course is closely related to the work done at Dialogic: innovation research with a significant technical component. During my bachelor's degree, I focused on innovation in ICT, consumer behaviour, expert systems, and data mining. My final project explored how online stores could best position themselves on comparison websites.
In the Innovation Sciences master's programme, I delved into intellectual property, standardisation, and knowledge infrastructures. In 2010, I spent six months studying at Università Bocconi in Milan. Apart from meeting many international students and learning a bit of Italian, I also explored intellectual property law and service innovation. I concluded my master's with a research project at Philips IP&S (Intellectual Property & Standards), where I developed indicators for a statistical model used to assess the value of patents.
From a young age, I have had a keen interest and passion for technology, particularly computers. My father, who showed me Excel on his Apple IIc, sparked this interest. I quickly started programming my own software, and by the age of 15, I had completed 'Java Programming for Dummies'. Alongside my studies, I often created and designed websites, and I served as the webmaster of the faculty website for Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences at TU/e for a period. In April 2010, I founded my own company (Pixelspark), where I develop infrastructure for mobile applications (smartphones and tablets).
At Dialogic, my interests in technology and innovation converge in challenging and exciting projects. My tasks in these projects vary widely, from qualitative research and report writing to programming algorithms for data processing or problem optimisation.
Furthermore, Dialogic provides ample room for individual innovation. I aim to contribute with my knowledge of software development and data processing. Currently, I am working on the successor to the Diadashboard, which will present certain (often quantitative) research findings from Dialogic in a more interactive and effective way. The new version will allow us to make the data more dynamic and offer it in new ways (such as benchmarking). In the long term, I am involved in 'genericising' our research, meaning assessing if certain tasks currently performed ad-hoc in projects can be transformed into more frequently applicable processes, enabling us to provide the client with continually updated data.
The first few months at Dialogic have been excellent, and I am excited about our future plans! I can be contacted at vandervorst@dialogic.nl or 030-2150593.