Willemien Laenens

Willemien obtained a bachelor degree in Graphic Design (Sint-Lukas, Brussels) and a master degree in Communication Science (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels). She started working at imec-SMIT, VUB as a researcher on various topics such as mobile health, digital inclusion and participatory design. 

She currently works as a project and communication assistant for the Knowledge Centre Data & Society, the central hub for the legal, social and ethical aspects of data-driven and AI applications. This Centre is a collaboration between 3 university research groups, of which imec-SMIT, VUB is one. 

Willemien mainly focuses on projects and activities related to 'ethics in practice', the operationalisation of ethical reflections when designing, developing, implementing, using and evaluating data-driven and AI applications. She also looks at the impact of data-driven and AI applications on work, and how employees can be involved in the implementation process of these technologies in the work environment.