Dr Niels Wouters

Niels works at the intersection of responsible innovation, design and the human experience. He has been a design researcher for over a decade, delivering award-winning innovation projects with councils, community organisations, tertiary education providers, national and federal government agencies, and cultural venues across Australia and Europe.

Niels is an advocate for centring users in discussions around technology ethics. He believes in embedding public participation in everyday business practice to ensure innovation delivers tangible societal benefits. He responds to projects intuitively by identifying the voices that must be heard to produce good design outcomes, be they policy, process, product or service.

Niels has a PhD in Architectural Engineering, a Masters of Architecture, a Masters of Architecture and Digital Media and a Bachelor of Computer Science. He blends these learnings by applying architectural design principles to enable ethical technology innovation. For example, his work designing ‘The Digital Bricks’ for the Science Gallery Melbourne delivered a world-first interactive performative media architecture integrated into the gallery’s physical façade.

Niels’ work on digital ethics, artificial intelligence, and media architecture has prompted over 100 invitations to speak at forums and conferences, including the World Economic Forum, World Bank and World Summit AI. His commentary is regularly sought for inclusion in local and international print media, radio and television media - including the Four Corners special on Tik Tok - where he discusses the societal risks and opportunities that specific technological trends represent.