We bring innovation to the university by:

• Identifying and exploring new technology trends that we think are relevant to the university and our partners;
• Running experiments and validating their impact, thereby developing in-house knowledge, skills and experience;
• Supporting faculties with innovation decision making and facilitating adoption, with as aim to encourage the adoption of relevant innovations within faculties and by our partners.

Our approach allows us to help reduce the risks that come with introducing new innovative tools and methods within the university. As a result, we help the university to future-proof itself and maintain its relevance in a digital age. 

To fulfill our mission, we have organised ourselves into three Labs: Digital Learning, Future Work and HumanityX. They are interdisciplinary groups of people working together on overarching trends, such as Artificial Intelligence and Big Data, New Media, Online Learning and 21st Century Skills. Our organisational model creates a flexible environment and culture that leads to constant innovation, creative output and agility. 

The Digital Learning Lab experiments with innovative technologies to explore the impact technology has on higher education. 

We work with the belief that new technologies offer the opportunity to create new educational narratives and models to improve teaching and learning. That’s why we provide teachers and students the opportunity to experiment with these technologies and explore the impact on their education. 

The Lab works, amongst other technologies, on online learning and virtual and augmented reality.

The world is changing faster than ever and the workforce needs to have the right amount of skills and (academic) reflection to work alongside machines. At the same time, organisations need to be responsive and sustainable, while learning from the past. 

The Future Work Lab support individuals as well as organisations in their ability to shape the (digital) future, by:

• Helping students and professionals develop their skills and realise their entrepreneurial potential;
• Supporting organisations with advice on the impact of digitalisation and the shifts in the job market and workforce;
• Developing methods that establish a culture in the workplace that has a focus on learning, team effectiveness, commitment and transparency.

HumanityX supports organisations in the peace, justice and humanitarian sectors to adopt digital innovations in order to increase their impact on society. Together with their partners, we conduct early exploration of new digital opportunities, and help them to build their innovation capacities. This allows partners to understand the value of new technologies to confront humanitarian challenges, and translate research regarding digital technologies into practice. 

The team constitutes an external support base to lower the investments and risks associated with innovation, while simultaneously providing a trusted environment in order to experiment with new applications.