News item | 05-12-2025 | 2:15 PM
Manfred Aben and André Postema become members of the Advisory Council for Science, Technology and Innovation. The Council of Ministers agreed to this on the recommendation of Minister Moes of Education, Culture and Science and Minister Karremans of Economic Affairs. Their appointment, which takes effect on January 1, 2026, is for a period of four years.
Manfred Aben is a computer scientist. He obtained his PhD in 1995 with a thesis on artificial intelligence and subsequently held various R&D positions at Unilever at home and abroad and administrative and supervisory positions at Top Sector Agri & Food, the Future of Technology Foundation and the technical committee of VNO-NCW. Aben is currently a supervisory director of Unilever Nederland Holding, among other things.
André Postema is a historian and economist. He started his career in development cooperation, banking and consultancy and subsequently became a director in education and healthcare, including at the Martini Hospital and Maastricht University. He is currently chairman of the Executive Board of Zuyd University of Applied Sciences and served in the Senate for the Labor Party for eight years. For the AWTI he will be responsible for practice-oriented research as a special area of interest.
The council consists of ten experts from the scientific world and business. They are members of the AWTI in a personal capacity. The AWTI’s advice is strategic and internationally oriented: they look at fundamental issues, focus on the longer term and also consider the situation in other countries.
Based on the AWTI advice, the government and parliament can further improve or adjust their policy in the field of science, technology and innovation. In this way, the AWTI aims to contribute to strengthening the innovative, scientific and technological power of people, companies and knowledge institutions in the Netherlands.