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RUAS Talk 1: Indispensable skills, for now and in the future

By: Wesley dos Santos, alumnus and entrepreneur

Study programmes change, jobs change, work changes. Everything changes all the time. But what are the skills that will always be important to make your dreams come true? What are the skills that make us human and that cannot be taken over by technology?

Tinkering, hustling and circular thinking. For me, these are the three essential skills that are applicable to every student and employee at this very moment. All with the aim of bringing you one step closer to your best self.

 Wesley dos Santos is a born entrepreneur, speaker and tinkerer. After he studied Business Administration at the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, he successfully founded three companies: Diversité Footwear, UniekCV and iKapitein. All three by using the same skills he likes to talk about: tinkhustcularity.

Wesley dos Santos

RUAS Talk 2: Maker of the future or a result of the past?

By: Justien Marseille, Research Lecturer and trendwatcher

Do we return to the 'old normal', or do we seize the opportunity to reshape the future of our field of work, our education? Do we cling to roles and customs that were once handy and even innovative, but after the pandemic they may be holding us back? Will the school building still be the best place to transfer knowledge, or will we be learning from a lecturer who is on call and on demand? And why do we stick to four years in the classroom when we have lifelong questions, and the answers can be found everywhere?

 During this talk we will look at methods that offer a basis for designing the unpredictable future and we explore trends and changes that are already visible in the undercurrent and that stimulate us to think about education for the future. A future that we can influence. A future that has already begun.

 Justien Marseille is Research Lecturer at Research Centre Creating 010 at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. For more than 25 years, Justien has been engaged in mapping out possible futures and researching emerging trends and developments in the market and society.

Justien Marseille

RUAS Talk 3: More data, less freedom?

By: Maaike Harbers, professorArtificial Intelligence & Society

Many countries are experimenting with 'corona' apps, and the popularity of monitoring software for employees who are working from home has risen sharply since the pandemic. The fact that such applications collect much data from citizens is controversial. Infringement of privacy is by far the most frequently heard argument against ever-increasing data collection. The focus on privacy, however, mainly draws attention to the consequences of data sharing for individual citizens, as a result of which even greater social effects are likely to be overlooked. This talk addresses the consequences of large-scale data collection for our society and, in particular, the threat to our (digital) freedom. Examples are 'corona' apps, software that assesses applicants, and social credit schemes.

Maaike Harbers is Professor Artificial Intelligence & Society at Research Centre Creating 010 and Research Lecturer for the study programme Creative Media and Game Technologies (CMGT), both at the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. She conducts research into the influence of artificial intelligence on values such as privacy, freedom and equality, and how designers can develop new technology (artificial intelligence in particular) based on values. For example, she has developed various design methods within the Value Sensitive Design approach that help designers to take into account the ethical and social consequences of technology. In addition, she is responsible for the development of the conversation tool 'Make Me Think', which is used in various study programmes.

Maaike Harbers