Why are innovations sometimes successfully adopted, and other times not at all? That is the question constantly occupying the time of researcher Erik Zwierenberg from the iHuman professorship. He hopes that his research will help professionals and clients to adopt smart innovations that can support them in their daily lives.

“Through junior technical school (lts), intermediate technical school (mts) and technical college (hts), I moved onto a post-higher vocational study (hbo) in Business Management. After that I worked in the telecom sector for ten years, followed by another ten years as an independent consultant. For the last three years, I have been working as a researcher at the iHuman professorship and as director of the Platform Gezondheid Expertise en Educatiecentrum Friesland (Health Expertise and Education Centre Platform, GEEF). The mission of this partnership of sixteen members, including the NHL Stenden, is  to add value to society in the area of housing, care and welfare. Our guiding principle in this is that the elderly and the (chronically) ill should be able to live independently for as long as possible.”  

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Drs. Erik Zwierenberg

Immersed in everyday practice

“My most important research areas are eHealth and domotic innovations in healthcare and the elderly at home. The wonderful thing about practice-based research is that you are immersed in the everyday practice and clearly see what does and doesn’t work. You are concerned with ‘proving the theory’ and developing the theory anew, so that it fits in with the reality. What’s more, it’s great to be able to help find solutions to the problems that affect people in their daily lives.”

“As GEEF at the NHL Stenden’s Huis van het Heden (The Home of Today), we show how you can live safely, comfortably and accessibly. This fully-fitted home includes camera security, sensors that control  the lighting and curtains, video telephone and personal alarms. This is the result of a wonderful combination of education, enterprise and research.”