Hi! I am an applied data scientist with strong societal interests. What fascinates me is the perpetual technologization of modern society. On the intersection of statistics, data science and societal challenges, I aim to provide insights by the projects I am working on. Occasionally, I put my two cents in the public debate, please find more information below.
My work is covered in various media outlets (NRC, het Financieel Dagblad and de Volkskrant) and scientific journal PNAS.
How the Dutch Parliament should take action at the national level to regulate algorithmic systems? (link) [Apr-14 2022]
For IBM's Medium channel, I wrote a blog series on the role of data scientist in building fairer machine learning. (link) [Feb-18 2022]
In response to an article about discriminating algorithms deployed by government institutions, I wrote an article how to realise ethical algorithms. (link) [Jul-20 2021]
Why limits should be defined for microtargeting? (link) [Jun-28 2021]
Research into statistical modelling at ETH Zürich is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS): Monitoring the COVID-19 epidemic with nationwide telecommunication data [Jun-23 2021].
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Website statistics are dominant in Dutch journalism, but easy to manipulate:
My experiments with shaping the 'Most read' sections of newspaper websites by simulating web traffic was featured in NRC (link) [Apr-26 2021];
In a Dutch Podcast about Media, I discussed the wider consequences of simulating web traffic and how rankings influence online human behaviour (link) [Apr-30 2021];
An opinion article from my hand on the current function of 'Most read' sections on newspaper websites was published on Villamedia – a Dutch specialist journal for journalisms and communication (link) [Apr-28 2021].
On the future of banking and PSD2 legislation, an article was published in NRC (link) [Aug-16 2019].
From Sep 21-Oct 22, I worked at IBM Amsterdam as a data scientist in the AI, Analytics and Automation practice. Working on among others Trustworthy AI, AI Governance and model validation. Now, I work as a Trustworthy AI consultant at Deloitte.
I co-founded a non-profit organisation, Algorithm Audit, that gives case-based ethical advise on algorithmic fairness. For more information, please see www.algorithmaudit.eu.
In 2020-21, I worked as a PhD-candidate in Applied Data Science at the Chair of Management Information Systems (MIS) at ETH Zürich. In this year, I conducted research into AI for Management, i.e., algorithms for decision support. More specifically my research concerned stochastic and causal modelling, e.g., Bayesian data analysis, hidden Markov models and point processes. With applications in:
the diffusion of fake news through social networks;
AI for good;
attribution modelling.
After a year, I quit the PhD-program due to its focus on research in statistical theory.
I completed a BSc and MSc in Mathematics at Utrecht University with a strong focus on stochastics and statistics. A couple of projects I have been working on are listed below:
BSc thesis - on statistical learning, written during an exchange semester at UPMC Paris VI;
MSc thesis - on Prune Sampling, a new MCMC method to approximate probability distributions on large Bayesian networks. Written during a graduation internship at TNO, The Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research;
- Project Maths for Industry - on ambulance relocatisation software, written for Stokhos company.
In 2018-19, I was enrolled in the MSc Data Science at the London School of Economics. In this year, I followed courses both in statistics and in social sciences to develop myself further as a link between maths, data and society. I wrote:
Big Tech's monopoly game – a blog post on today's dominance of tech comapnies and the inertia of regulators.
Towards commercial autonomous vehicles - an essay that studies the advent of autonomous driving cars through the lens of concepts in innovation and technology management.
In the fall of 2017, I participated in the four-month and full-time annual Dutch National ThinkTank about the future of the Dutch labour market. This junior think tank consists of a multidisciplinary team of twenty-two highly talented postgraduate and PhD-students. Its aim is to perform thorough analyses, to create a critical mass and to come up with innovative ideas to influence decisions in a direction that will result in progress for Dutch society. Some of its outcomes can be found below:
Furthermore, I am interested in:
sailing, running;
chess, skiing;
nature, arts, society.