Alumni Week: What if organizations could take back control of their data and digital infrastructure?
Wednesday 7 October |18:15-21:30 | REC E
- Date
- 7 October 2026
- Time
- 18:15 -21:30
- Location
- Roeterseilandcampus - building E
This event is especially recommended for Economics & Business alumni, but open to everyone.
Want to join? Sign up here straight away!
The evening opens with a keynote by Maarten Pieter Schinkel, followed by a panel discussion featuring experts from academia and industry. The discussion will be moderated by Edo Roos Lindgreen and concludes with an audience Q&A and networking drinks.
18:15 – Welcome with coffee and tea and registration
19:00 – Welcome and introduction
Dean Roel Beetsma opens the evening, followed by moderator Edo Roos Lindgreen, who introduces the theme and speakers.
19:10 – Keynote: Digital Sovereignty and the Regulation of Big Tech
Professor Maarten Pieter Schinkel (Amsterdam School of Economics) explores whether Europe can effectively regulate the market power of major technology companies and asks what organisations can do to regain control over their data and digital infrastructure.
19:30 – Meet the panel
Moderator Edo Roos Lindgreen introduces the panelists in a series of short interviews.
19:50 – Panel discussion
The panel brings together perspectives from economics, business, cybersecurity, public affairs, and industry to discuss the future of digital sovereignty and the regulation of Big Tech.
20:20 – Wrap-up & key takeaways
A brief reflection on the main insights and conclusions of the discussion.
20:30 – Networking drinks
Continue the conversation with fellow alumni, students, professionals, and speakers over drinks.
21:30 - End
Speakers
Sijtsma held several leading AI roles in the financial sector before becoming responsible for AI at ASN Bank. After delivering valuable AI applications through the internal chatbot ASN GPT, he expanded his mission to Europe by co-founding EU GPT with his former team. His start-up aims to provide European organisations with tangible AI value through a compliant, sovereign AI platform.
Prof. dr. Martijn Dekker (Professor in Business and Cybersecurity) was appointed Global Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of ABN AMRO Bank in early 2014. Martijn joined ABN AMRO in 1997 after completing his Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Amsterdam. Next to his role in ABN AMRO, he is also member of the advisory board and chair of the ICT subcommittee of CBS (Statistics Netherlands). Since early 2020 he is also part-time professor Information Security at the University of Amsterdam. He shares his experiences and insights via memberships of several advisory boards and as professional keynote speaker. He co-founded the Partnership for Cyber Security Innovation (PCSI)and he founded and chairs the Dutch CISO Circle of Trust.
Myrthe Hooijman is Director of Special Projects and the second statutory director at Techleap. In this role, she supports founders in scaling promising start-ups and deep-tech companies in the Netherlands. With the mission of making the Netherlands a leading technology nation, she works on solutions to the biggest challenges founders face, such as navigating regulations, securing funding, and attracting talent. Previously, she worked as a policy adviser at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and as an HR and innovation manager in various sectors.
Maarten Pieter Schinkel is Professor of Competition Economics and Regulation at the Amsterdam School of Economics of the University of Amsterdam, and founder of the Amsterdam Center for Digital Competition (ACDC). His research focuses on how markets function and on how regulation can promote fair competition, with particular attention to the growing power of major digital platforms.
Paul van Vulpen is an Assistant Professor of Information Systems at the Amsterdam Business School (UvA). He researches digital autonomy: how organisations can benefit from digital technologies without giving up control over their data, software, or decision-making. His work explores new forms of collaboration and institutions that can give organisations greater influence over the digital infrastructure on which they depend.
