Raising our profile: our contributions in November
November marked a crucial month for Alkemio, as we took deliberate steps to expand our presence, amplify our voice, and deepen the connections that guide our work. From the Aligning Public Tech Unconference hosted by Code for NL, to ImpactFest, Innovember, and the Rathenau Institute’s symposium, 6 people from Alkemio engaged with innovators and policy experts across 9 events in 3 countries.
A key lesson that resonated throughout these events was the power of collaborative effort. Time and again, it became clear that no single organization can solve the urgent challenges facing our society. Only by uniting our strengths, expertise, and experiences can we shape inclusive, sustainable, and impactful solutions. This notion of collective action is the driver of everything we do at Alkemio, and the reason we are focused on stepping out, raising our profile, and inviting others to join us.
We look forward to turning these insights into tangible progress. Let’s dive in!
Civ-Tech Parade [The Hague]
Let’s start with one of the most recent events, but a very significative one! On the 27th of November, we attended Civ-Tech Parade by GovTechNL, where a new manifesto outlined visions for how governments could more effectively engage citizens and build public trust. As part of these sessions, our CEO Neil Smyth hosted a discussion on the concept of Steward-Ownership, highlighting how Alkemio’s own model makes it easier to involve a broader range of stakeholders (stewards) than traditional VC frameworks allow. It was great to see the manifesto brought to life and to interact with our partners, including at the Toekomsttafel Wetenschap, as we considered tangible steps toward more responsive, citizen-centric governance.
Aligning Public Tech Unconference [Rotterdam]
On November 1st, we attended the Aligning Public Tech Unconference hosted by Code for NL, a Dutch community dedicated to open collaboration toward a fair and inclusive digital government and society. Open collaboration and alignment with public values are central to our approach, so participating was a natural fit.
Key discussions at the unconference highlighted the importance of open collaboration and the human factor in AI. Led by Eva van Sloten, we explored how numerous open-source communities within Dutch government agencies often operate in isolation, emphasizing that organizations should engage with and strengthen existing communities rather than creating new ones for similar issues.
Additionally, Peter Troxler facilitated a discussion on the ethical considerations of AI in human roles. As AI increasingly augments or replaces human functions, critical questions arise about the human factor. Where is human involvement in critical decisions? How do we trust that the human factor is present? These deeply human concerns in AI-driven processes need to be kept at the forefront of this technology.
aiPulse 2024 & Digital Trust Convention [Paris]
We also attended aiPulse 2024 in Paris, where we explored how we and others are applying and using AI while maintaining transparency and safety. Meanwhile, on November 15th, we went to the Digital Trust Convention, also in Paris, where we explored what is needed in digital spaces in the era of AI to maintain trust and integrity. The insights from all of these events are important to us given our focus on safe AI and our VirtualContributors™.
ImpactFest [The Hague]
On November 7th, we attended ImpactFest in The Hague. This annual event brings together local and international NGOs, knowledge institutes, companies, governments, and innovative entrepreneurs. It was a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with our partners, build new relationships, and catch up with familiar faces within the impact ecosystem.
Key topics like Steward Ownership and public-private partnerships were at the forefront. We are glad to see that these topics are being raised more and more often, as they introduce concepts to new people for how we can change the dynamics of business and governance.
Innovember [Rotterdam]
We also participated in the closing session of the Innovation Management for Professionals program aboard the stunning SS Rotterdam during Innovember, on November 8th. Led by Bryan Cassady, the interactive session focused on how AI and innovation management can complement and strengthen each other.
Bryan challenged us to reflect on whether we are leveraging AI in all critical areas of innovation. He shared practical insights from his toolkit, designed to guide progress step-by-step. With our latest functionalities - Subspace Templates and Virtual Contributors - this session provided the perfect inspiration to apply these new insights effectively.
If you haven’t heard of Bryan Cassady, we highly recommend checking out his work. Curious how we do steward-ownership? Click here to learn about our model.
Rathenau Institute’s symposium [The Hague]
We attended the Rathenau Institute’s symposium titled “Voices in Society on Science, Technology, and Innovation” in The Hague, on November 14th. A key panel explored Big Tech’s influence in education, revealing that Dutch universities only recently secured ownership of their data after years of negotiation with Google.
Despite this progress, all 13 universities still depend heavily on Big Tech, raising concerns about autonomy and control over educational data. Discussions centered on guiding ‘EdTech’ with values like accessibility, justice, and equal opportunity, while encouraging the exploration of smaller, independent alternatives. The importance of collective action between education, science, and technology to safeguard public values was also emphasized.
We’re excited to see this focus and look forward to the Rathenau Institute’s upcoming report. If you’re interested in their work on digitalization, you can follow it on their website.
ECP Festival [The Hague]
On the topic of digitalization, we also attended ECP Festival, where we discussed what is and is not desireable in a world of increased digitalization. You can read more about the event here. Curious about our work with educators and academic institutions? We have written about it in this blog post.
Looking Ahead
November was really packed, we couldn’t fit it all here! We also attended Slush 2024 in Helsinki, which we wrote about in another blog post. Across all of these events, one pattern emerged: transformative solutions don’t turn up from isolated efforts, but from communities working together. Whether discussing the human role in AI, reshaping government work culture, or bridging gaps between existing initiatives, the importance of connection, collective reach, and collaboration has been a consistent theme.
For Alkemio, these experiences show that by actively raising our profile and engaging with these ecosystems, we are walking along the right path. We believe that when the right people come together, the collective action needed to solve our issues becomes unstoppable.
As we move forward, we’re happy to continue our efforts towards these important conversations, and most importantly, take action. Let’s continue to align our efforts and build a brighter digital future—together.