Board Circle AI: Responding together to the lightning-fast impact of AI

How do we ensure that our education remains aligned with the needs of the labor market? To answer this question, the Economic Board The Hague, in collaboration with the HAAI Campus, organized the exclusive "Board Circle AI" last Wednesday, 20 May, at The Hague University of Applied Sciences’ Innovation Playground. It was an afternoon filled with strategic insights.

During the event, companies, government bodies, and educational institutions engaged in dialogue. The goal? To move beyond endless talk and seek direct connections with professional practice. "Everyone has a different understanding of what you can, must, or want to do with AI. Almost daily, new possibilities emerge, leading to new questions about the application of AI. This has enormous effects on the labor market and education. It requires space to play and experiment, where we as knowledge institutions work with companies and the government to see how each can contribute to an answer - and then actually take action, especially when it has never been done before," says Peter Vroom, Faculty Director of IT & Design and one of the initiators of the HAAI.

The changing labor market for our students

Theo Bakker, leading lector of the Centre of Expertise Global & Inclusive Learning and lector of Learning Technology & Analytics, took the floor during one of the discussion rounds. He painted a clear but challenging picture of the impact of AI on the labor market, specifically for our entering students.

"We see that AI is currently restructuring entire professions or departments, such as call centers," Theo states. "As a result, certain entry-level positions that previously served as a great stepping stone are disappearing. The remaining tasks often require much more intellectual capacity. Consequently, graduates have to make a larger leap into the labor market. During the Board Circle, we saw a lot of mutual understanding; companies are struggling with this as well."

According to Theo, this calls for "learning agility" within our education. One concrete solution discussed involved a different approach to internships. "We must use internships and practical assignments much more as touchpoints to bring the latest AI developments directly from companies back into our programs, allowing us to innovate faster."

The role of THUAS

THUAS feels a great sense of urgency. Peter Vroom shared a striking example: "AI is changing both the labor market and education. If a company like Siemens needs to design and build a train, they first create a 'digital twin,' which is impossible without AI. They train their own people, which means we must align with that as a provider of certified talent entering the market. I believe the classic boundary between the seeker and the provider of knowledge and skills is gradually blurring."

THUAS has a lot to offer in the field of AI. With the first AI bachelor's programs, the AI & Data Science research group, tooling such as NebulaOne - which students have recently been able to use - and the new AI master’s starting in September, we are among the frontrunners. "No one can say that we aren't supporting AI development," says Peter, "but we don't do so blindly. 'AI for good' is, in both senses of the expression, a vital aspect of applied AI for us."

The power of HAAI Campus

The Hague Applied AI Campus (HAAI) received significant attention during the event. This initiative started about a year and a half ago at THUAS and has since grown into a powerful partnership between mbo, hbo, and wo education in the Hague region.

The Board Circle provided the perfect opportunity to demonstrate HAAI's added value in practice. Peter Vroom: "Companies and the municipality benefit from not having to knock on four different doors for collaboration or research. Through HAAI, they get direct access to the major knowledge institutions in the city."

Theo Bakker also sees enormous opportunities in the HAAI collaboration. "You see that vocational mbo is very strong in short-cycle work-learning experiences, we as a university of applied sciences have a longer horizon in our applied research, and universities focus on more fundamental, long-term research. By having these layers work together on these issues, we complement each other perfectly."

Building further together

The Board Circle AI showed that all parties are eager to cooperate. Together with the partners within the HAAI Campus, we at THUAS will help our students and professionals in the region develop the ability to adapt at a high professional level to a rigorously changing labor market. We hope that following this day, we can further deepen and expand our existing collaborations between education and the professional field.