Projects

Explore our research projects at the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management of Delft University of Technology. From sustainable urban development to digital transformation, our projects address various societal challenges and technological innovations. Discover how we contribute to knowledge advancement and solutions for complex issues.

CIRPASS project

October 2022 - March 2024

CIRPASS is a collaborative initiative to prepare the ground for the gradual piloting and deployment of a standards-based Digital Product Passport (DPP). The DPP needs to be aligned with the requirements of the EU Proposal for Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulations (ESPR). The focus of the project is on the electronics, batteries, and textile sectors.

Public control over public algorithmic systems

January - 2020 - December 2024

In this project, we assess efforts of Dutch public organisations to gain control over their own algorithmic and data-driven systems. We examined four instruments developed by a consortium of 13 public organisations. Our analysis resulted in recommendations for practice and forms the basis for our research on structuring design processes of public AI systems.

Programmable Infrastructures Project

The Programmable Infrastructures Project aims to conduct investigations into this large scale transformation with the ultimate objective to identify ways to engage and shape the course of these developments so that we can continue to have democratically managed infrastructures that serve the public interest.

Advanced Cyber Defense Center (ACDC)

Botnets represent a serious threat to Internet security, with tens of millions of computers infected each year in Europe alone. In the battle against botnets the European project Advanced Cyber Defence Centre (ACDC) is opening the attack. TU Delft has joined the fight by using reputation metrics to visualise the performance level of providers.

Communication as a bridge between the threat of terrorism and the perception of risk

We are shaken almost weekly by reports of the threat of terrorism. But just how real is this threat, and how is it experienced by the general public? It is not unlikely that there is a gap between the threat of terrorism and people's perception of the risk. A new research project by Doctor Gerdien de Vries of TU Delft, in which researchers from Leiden, Rotterdam and Delft are pooling their expertise, is intended to show whether this is indeed the case and how communication strategies can bridge this gap.

Open data/open government

Intuitively, the unlimited availability of government data to businesses and citizens appeals to everyone. However, in practice, there are numerous technical and organisational pitfalls complicating the access to this information. The ICT research group of the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management (TPM) is developing methods and instruments to make available, find and use the right needles in the right haystacks quickly and easily.

Engineering Social Technologies for a Responsible Digital Future

This research initiative aims at strengthening complexity science for a better understanding of socio-technical-environmental systems and to prepare for the challenges of today’s globalized and hyper-connected world. The program is committed to the idea that we need to respond to the novel, data-driven construction of the social world with an operational framework that enables sustainable new modes of social, moral, legal and political thinking.

Safe and secure trade lanes

Digital highway for safe and secure trade - The Netherlands plays a key role in the world of international trade. With its 12 million containers every year, the Port of Rotterdam is the gateway to Europe and Schiphol airport is one of the most important hubs for air cargo. In recent years, the demand for safe and secure trade has increased, causing an explosive growth in expensive and time-consuming border controls. TU Delft has the answer: ICT solutions for more efficient, safe and secure trade lanes.
Hoe de douane efficiënter inspecteert in de logistieke keten

Improving the efficiency of Customs inspections in the logistics supply chain

In the years ahead, Customs at Schiphol airport and the Port of Rotterdam are set to have a lot of work on their hands. In the next five years, the huge growth in e-commerce and the imminent Brexit will lead to an increase from 160 million to 500 million in the number of Customs declarations passing through these major logistics hubs of Europe. This massive increase calls for smart ways of working in order to guarantee efficient risk analysis and cut costs in processing Customs import declarations. “In light of this, digitisation and collaboration between Customs organisations and the transport supply chain will be of key importance,” says Yao-Hua Tan, Professor of Information and Communication Technology.

Random Regret Minimization Model

The choices people make are partly determined by their attempt to prevent regret at a later stage. This idea inspired the ESS department (section TLO) to develop its ‘random regret minimization’ (RRM) model: an econometric model that analyses and predicts the choices people make.

Indonesia Regional Energy Transition TU Delft

1 October 2020 – 1 October 2023

This research project aims to develop a strategic green energy implementation plan (i.e. wood biomass and small-hydro) for Bali and Kalimantan which ensures regional economic growth for both regions and minimizes carbon emissions and that will be endorsed by a broad group of stakeholders

How the shipping industry can make the festive season more sustainable

January 2017 -

With the festive season fast approaching, container ships are once more sailing to and fro packed full of gifts. But many people may be unaware of the fact that the shipping industry is one of the biggest causes of environmental pollution. Astrid Sonneveld and Isabel Welten decided that it was time for a change. Their aim is to use renewable fuel to help make the shipping industry cleaner and more sustainable.

ENGAGE

Barriers, ranging from the organisational to the technical, hinder the opening of data. In the FP7 ENGAGE project a modular and flexible open data infrastructure has been realised, facilitating the opening, finding, sharing and use of data. The infrastructure enables researchers from different disciplines and policymakers to collaborate.

Governance of Cyber Security

Instead of regarding cyber security as primarily a technical challenge, we look at the problem from a socio-technical perspective – combining large-scale, technical measurement data from computer science with institutional data on thousands of actors – so as to identify the incentives of these actors and design policies that can affect real change.

EM-LAB

To improve the evaluation of electricity sector policy instruments before their implementation, ESS developed a model of two interconnected electricity markets in which investment decisions are made by individually modelled energy companies. A variety of policy instruments can be ‘turned on’ or ‘off’ in this model, for the entire market or for only one region in an interconnected system, in order to test their real-world effects.

Improving Safety and Security using Bayesian Belief Networks

Bayesian belief networks (BBNs) are frameworks to model safety and security related problems within the public and private sectors. It involves the identification of causal factors that may lead to economic damage and loss of life within these sectors. These cause–consequence chains are typically described in terms of probabilistic formulations to capture uncertainties in these chains.

RESPONSE

This research project aims to use controversies as a source of information in supporting public-private decision-making for socially responsible energy projects.

Safety & security in the chemical- and hazardous materials transport sectors

There has been a great call for optimal safety and security in many business sectors, particularly since 9/11. TU Delft's Safety and Security Science Research Group focuses its research on a number of disciplines including safety & security in the chemical industry and all associated socio-economic optimisations.

Risk analysis of extreme undesirable events

How can we provide the Netherlands with the best possible protection from disasters, such as floods? And: how safe is safe enough? The Safety Science Research Group of the faculty Technology, Policy and Management of the TU Delft is calling for a uniform risk analysis of extreme events, which enables the benchmarking of risks between the different domains.

Inclusive Business Models for Frugal Innovations in Africa

Frugal innovations are newly designed technological products, services and systems that are of good quality and are affordable to low-income people in developing countries. They are basic but also adapted to the local circumstances and culture. Through re-engineering, these innovations become an important instrument to address over-engineering. The VTI department develops new inclusive business models for successful frugal innovation in Africa.

Capturing the societal value of smart energy systems

Smart grid technologies are considered to be important enablers in the transition to a more sustainable electricity system, as they facilitate the growing deployment of, among others, renewable energies. However, there are serious ethical concerns related to their use, concerning privacy, security, reliability, or affordability. To address these ethical concerns and avoid conflicts during implementation, there is a strong urgency to take moral values into account when designing smart grid technologies.

Rethinking paradigms

January 2023 - ?

Rethinking paradigms is about the way people in healthcare think, reason, and conduct research. Current paradigms seem to limit innovation and progress, even sometimes cause harm to patients, healthcare professionals and the healthcare system itself. We explore the validity of this observation and the need for a fundamental change in how we think and approach challenges.

CYBECO

Ransomware such as WannaCry and Petya can greatly disrupt organisations and costs society billions of dollars. New cybersecurity risks emerge every day in our digitalised world. However, cybersecurity is often not up-to-date in organisations.

RHAPSODY

“RHAPSODY - Recognition of human patterns of optimal driving for safety of conventional and autonomous vehicles"

According to what order, is this a disorder?

Brain functionality in thinking, feeling, and behaving, are outcomes of complex and constant interactions of self and the socio-material environment. Viewing mental health conditions through this lens carves a path to more person-centered, and safer, treatment approaches.

PARSEC - Parcel and Letter Security for Postal and Express Courier Flows

October 2022- October 2025

PARSEC develops solutions that use non-intrusive detection technologies to fight the abuse of postal and courier flows for criminal and terrorist purposes.

DATAPIPE project

September 2022 - September 2024

The DATAPIPE project aims to help the Customs Administration of the Netherlands and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Netherlands to be better equipped to meet their responsibilities in the context of the circular economy. The project will deliver a diagnostic problem analysis report, blueprint for piloting, and recommendations.

Smart Grids

The Dutch electricity network will undergo a major overhaul in the coming years. But until then, many dilemmas have to be confronted. The central question is: should we lay thicker energy cables or should we go for a smart network or ‘smart grid’? An issue full of high-tension involving a variety of actors. The Energy & Industry (E&I) section of the faculty of TPM sheds more light on the matter.
De verantwoordelijkheidskloof bij zelfrijdende auto's

The responsibility gap with self-driving cars

Who is responsible when self-driving cars are involved in accidents? Recently a self-driving Volvo in Arizona collided with a pedestrian who did not survive the accident. And in 2016 there was a fatal self-driving Tesla incident. Filippo Santoni de Sio of the TU Delft analyses the ethical issues around self-driving cars.

Real-time patient logistics during pandemics and natural disasters

February 2023 - December 2027

Patient flow logistics increasingly is a concern for health care systems worldwide. . The Covid19 pandemic has highlighted the problems of overloaded health care systems, with regular threats of a ‘code black’, clinics diverting patients or ambulances, and overloaded GPs with important implications for patient safety but also hospital finances.

Spreading the Responsible Innovation Approach

In the last few years, responsible innovation – or as the EU calls it, responsible research and innovation (RRI) – has been developed as an approach to deal early on with ethical and social issues brought about by new technologies. RRI has been defined as ‘on-going process of aligning research and innovation to the values, needs and expectations of society’ (Rome Declaration).

Anticancer: Game Theory Empowered by Data Science and Control Theory to Improve Treatment of Metastatic Cancer

January 2023 – December 2027

This research investigates novel game theoretic models and combines these with data science and control theory to improve standard of care in cancer treatment. With these models a physician will be able to anticipate the cancer cells’ response to the treatment and subsequently steer the eco-evolutionary dynamics of the cancer cells towards better patient outcomes.

What’s Up Doc?

January 2021 - December 2023

Physicians’ reflections on managing their ability to perform throughout their careers, in relation to quality and safety of care delivery

APROPOS

In the race towards building smarter, more powerful and more connected machines, scientists are also searching for ways to make sure they are energy efficient. If no action is taken, computers will soon need more electricity than the world energy resources can generate. More alarmingly, the Internet of Things will connect up to 50 billion devices to the cloud through wireless networks. This EU-funded APROPOS project is exploring ways to decrease energy consumption and optimise energy-accuracy trade-offs. To that end, it is developing approximate computing, in which applications using data may be satisfied with an 'acceptable' level of accuracy, and it will train early-stage researchers in energy-accuracy trade-offs on circuit, architecture, software and system-level solutions.

SPATIAL

A fund of 5M€ is awarded to SPATIAL project coordinated by TBM Associate Professor Dr. Aaron Ding. SPATIAL project focuses on two specific AI challenges: the model training of the AI (prio to its use) for potential bias, privacy and model poisoning, and the black box working of the algorithm once it can be used. The project contributes to a trustworthy framework for AI-driven security by developing and designing resilient accountable metrics, privacy-preserving methods, verification tools and system solutions for a more trustworthy AI. It paves the way towards trustworthy AI in security solutions by generating appropriate skills and education for trustworthy AI in cybersecurity from both societal and technical aspects.

Moving towards AErospace

March 2023- February 2027

Moving Towards Aerospace (MAE) is an Interreg Europe project. The aim is to kick-start and support the transformation of production chains in the aerospace industry.

Moving towards AErospace

March 1st 2023 - February 28th 2027

Moving Towards Aerospace (MAE) is an Interreg Europe project. The aim is to kick-start and support the transformation of production chains in the aerospace industry.

What’s Up Doc?

February 2021 - August 2025

This PhD thesis aims to design a method for redesigning structured or standardized work processes to fit the day-to-day work routines and needs of the healthcare professional.

Speaking up in healthcare

January 2023 – December 2023

To improve the safety and quality of care, it is important that all healthcare professionals can speak up about problems and suggestions. However, this does not always happen. During this project we study which factors contribute to whether healthcare professionals speak up or not and which role the receiving party has.

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