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March 16, 2022

Will AI take over our jobs? Perhaps even take over the world? And what about malicious intent? There are all kinds of myths surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI). With extensive focus on such issues, little attention is being devoted to the opportunities that algorithms and AI offer us. There are opportunities all around us, even for solving complex (social) issues. Yet... these opportunities need to be identified and tackled. What (hidden) opportunities are out there? What are the myths? And are these myths also risks? In this first part out of two, we take a closer look at the opportunities presented by AI.

A conversation with Gerrit Timmer, Co-founder and Chief Science Officer (CSO) at ORTEC

Bot typing…
Answer: “Sorry, I don’t understand.”

Increasing the bot experience

Since chatbots burst onto the scene some years ago, there has been a lot of hype around it. Companies massively incorporated chatbots in their organizations. Despite the positive sides that bots offer to customers, not everyone has a positive experience interacting with them. We acknowledge that bots are not totally perfect yet. Nevertheless, thanks to innovation running at an exponential pace, we predict to see new and surprising developments that will fundamentally step up the way that bots interact with customers.

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→ Discover our 5 predictions that will improve your (chat)bot by downloading the infographic below

“Algoritmiek samen met het toegenomen verlangen naar transparantie dwingt bedrijven om hun ethische kompas tegen het licht te houden”

Prof. dr. Marc Salomon is hoogleraar aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam, voorzitter van de Amsterdam Business School en medeoprichter van de Analytics Academy. Hij laat zijn licht schijnen op de ontwikkelingen rond artificial intelligence (AI): “Algoritmische beslissingen nemen dwingt bedrijven om hun ethische kompas tegen het licht te houden. Dat is niet nieuw. De combinatie met het toegenomen verlangen vanuit onze maatschappij om de beslissingen transparant te maken is sterk toegenomen. Dat komt naar mijn mening enerzijds door de populariteit van AI, maar anderzijds ook gewoon door het tijdsgewricht.” Met de toegenomen vraag naar transparantie moet je als bedrijf kleur bekennen. In de doelfunctie van je algoritme alleen de winst optimaliseren, of, bijvoorbeeld, ook aan sociale aspecten, diversiteit en het milieu denken? Met transparante algoritmiek wordt het steeds duidelijker waar je als bedrijf voor staat.”

Interview met Prof. dr. Marc Salomon, hoogleraar aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam

June 30, 2021

Zoetermeer, The Netherlands –Since our foundation in 1981, we are driven by our intrinsic motivation to use our passion for mathematics to contribute to a better world. This year, while celebrating 40 years of positive impact on the world, we are raising our own climate ambitions. Through an internal activation campaign and in collaboration with Trees for All, we are compensating our CO2 emissions. ORTEC employees around the globe have happily supported the reforestation initiative by participating in the internal campaign. As a result, we can compensate nearly 3,500 tonnes of CO2, which is roughly comparable to the CO2 absorption of 20,000 trees. This allows us to achieve net-zero emissions for 2020 and 2021.

“Setting the agenda together is the best way to ensure broad-based support”

When Ingrid de Swart joined a.s.r. in December 2019, the main mission she was tasked with was to get more out of the sum of parts. “Organizing ourselves even stronger, based on customers’ needs and wishes. Because today’s customers don’t only need products, but services too. To improve our services, we plan to use data, focus on digitization and make a.s.r an even more recognizable brand by giving it for example a clear digital front door. So, my focus needed to be on customers, data, digitization and innovation, while maintaining all the good things we already had.”

Interview with Ingrid de Swart, member board of directors a.s.r.

At ORTEC, our mission is to “improve the world with our passion for mathematics.” Therefore, we continuously focus on how we can help our customers become more sustainable. A good example of how ORTEC’s data-driven approach can help is by accelerating the integration of electric vehicles in your daily operations. This article discusses the application of such vehicles in the aviation market. It shares insights from our ongoing research into zero-emission airport operations. In particular, we will discuss how scheduling algorithms can be used to plan the operation of electric push-back trucks more effectively.

Airport Intelligence, Brussels Airport’s consulting subsidiary, and ORTEC, the market leader in data-driven decision support, start a strategic partnership. The collaboration aims to optimize airport processes around the world, to improve the overall passenger experience and the operational efficiency.

“Loyalty goes two ways: loyalty towards our employees, and loyalty towards our customers. We never give up on our customers”

April 1, 2021 - “I remember using an Apple II in the 1980s” says Gerrit Timmer, co-founder and now Chief Science Officer (CSO) at ORTEC. “But not for big projects – for those we needed bulky mainframes that cost millions. It was for small calculations, and for writing text. Typewriters were not quite that handy!” No digital mobile networks, no proper laptops and, instead, huge stacks of paper: this not-so-distant past seems unimaginable. But Gerrit and four other math wizards had an appetite for challenges and innovation – so 40 years ago, our founders embarked on the adventure of a lifetime. Countless great projects later, ORTEC has much to be proud of: together with our customers, we have made an impact that goes beyond mere business.

An interview with Gerrit Timmer, co-founder and Chief Science Officer (CSO) at ORTEC

"AI empowers patients, thanks to the democratization of data"

Folkert Asselbergs is a cardiologist at UMC Utrecht and is involved in several data collection and data analysis projects in the field of personalized medicine. In the near future, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will play a much bigger role in healthcare, including in hospitals. Asselbergs says: “At the moment, AI still plays a supporting role, but I think that ten years from now, AI will be in the lead and doctors will primarily support.”

Interview with Prof. Dr. Folkert Asselbergs, cardiologist and Professor Precision Medicine in Cardiovascular Disease at UMC Utrecht and University College London

“Resilience is agility’s twin brother. One cannot exist without the other!"

We are right in the middle of a digital revolution, says Roel van Rijsewijk, director of Cyber Defence at Thales. The question, however, is what the digital future will look like. “The digital transformation is changing the world for good: everything is in a state of flux and nobody quite knows where we will find ourselves when the dust settles.

Interview with Roel van Rijsewijk, Director of Cyber Defence at Thales