FHICT-Day

Techno philosopher Rens van der Vorst keynote speaker 
Rens van der Vorst, head of innovation of the IT Fontys University of Applied Sciences department and techno philosopher, was the keynote speaker of the day. He gave an interesting demonstration about why ‘apping’ is the new smoking and other diverse techno-philosophical stories. As he puts it: technology isn’t important. How we relate to technology is what it’s all about! During the keynote, issues were dealt with such as “Do we really want to live in a data-driven society? Is sex with a robot progress? What if data knows you better than you know yourself?” 

Inspiring sessions: from smart society to digital happiness 
Subsequently, several sessions could be followed. For instance, there was a session of the municipality of Eindhoven and Big Data lecturer Gerard Schouten about giving meaning to smart society. How does one do this? In the session they demonstrated that a smart society is not conceived in advance at the drawing board or only gets meaning from policy documents. There was also a session about “Digital Happiness” by Arien Kingma and Mieke Boogert of Partner in Education Brand Encounters. They have launched a new innovative coaching and HR product: Twinstrength; the fastest route to the best you. In addition, there were sessions of Student+ and Carpax IT (about how you can create an autism-friendly working environment); new FHICT accommodation (where you could get an impression of planned construction in both Eindhoven and Tilburg) and you could try out the latest VR technology in the artist dressing rooms. 

These first round sessions were followed by a delicious lunch buffet in the tent and in the restaurant of De Effenaar. There was thus enough time and space for meeting others. 

After lunch it was time for round two of the various sessions. The visitors again spread out over the whole Effenaar for inspiration. Eric Slaats,  the “Open Innovator guru of Fontys University of Applied Sciences ICT” gave a presentation about personified education with a unique curriculum for each student. After all, the society around us is changing continuously and in an ever increasing pace because of IT. This requires different education so the professionals of the future are prepared for it, says Slaats. In the session by ATOS the visitors were taken to the world of the ATOS Technology Lab. This is a place where the latest technologies are experimented with in order to work on new initiatives together with educational institutions and other partners. In the artist foyer ICT teachers gave a retrospective of their study trip to SXSW in Texas and shared their findings. In the foyer and in the restaurant the ICTalent participants proudly spoke about their working prototypes in various stands at the ICTalent Market. 

Talent on stage during the ICTalent Awards 
The afternoon ended with the ICTalent Awards in the large hall. In total, eight participants pitched their best ideas to an enthusiastic (international) audience consisting of various companies, employees, students and proud family members in a sold-out hall. Project group “RetireMe” eventually won the main prize of 5,000 euro. The 400 visitors chose “CPVR” as the audience favourite. They won the Audience Award. 

Local artists at the staff party
After the ICTalent Awards there was a delicious dinner in the tent exclusively for all employees (and an introducee). To end the FHICT Day there was a spectacular staff party in the small hall of De Effenaar. There was a genuine festival line-up full of locally selected artists; (almost) all artistes were employees of FHICT. The evening kicked off with sixties soul band Ooh My Soul. This was followed by DJ Danny Dee and the FHICT Day Band rocked the hall. The staff party ended on the beats of DJ Joris van der Straten. 

Up to 2019! 
The organisation is looking back positively on this first edition of such a major meeting day. Annemarie Diepenbroek explained: “What a top day to look back on. We are incredibly happy with the final result and proud of everyone who made this day possible. As it’s the first time we organised this, this took quite some puzzling. After all, how do you make the day fun and inspiring for all? We had to look for speakers, but some session organisers signed up spontaneously when they heard about the event. And then the location: how do you organise such a day for such a large group? Thankfully we soon came up with De Effenaar. All reactions we received seemed to indicate that we succeeded in our objectives. A stimulating keynote, sessions where there was something new for everyone, a cosy lunch in the tent, a spectacular show of the ICTalent Awards, and….the weather gods were in our favour. A very successful day, up to 2019!” 

You can watch the after movie here on the YouTube channel of Fontys University of Applied Sciences ICT. In addition, you can find a play list of all video productions for the FHICT Day here.

There is an online photo album on our Facebook page.