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CV
Frans Nauta small
Frans J. Nauta MA (1966) is professor of Public Sector Innovation at HAN University in Arnhem, The Netherlands. The coming years he will be conducting research on excellent government and regional innovation systems in different countries throughout the world. The results of this research will be published in two books: one book will give an overview of excellent government with best practices of government policies from around the world. The other book will be a guide for politicians and policymakers on how to establish a successful knowledge economy, combining insights from international hotspots and seven years of work at the Knowledge Land foundation and the Dutch national Innovation Platform.

Before he was appointed professor at HAN University he was founder & CEO of the Knowledgeland foundation (KL). KL was and is the leading Dutch think tank on knowledge economy and was one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the Dutch national Innovation Platform. The platform is chaired by the Prime Minister and coordinates the national policies for education, research, technology and innovation. It's eighteen members are selected from the cabinet, business and the knowledge infrastructure. Frans was the first secretary and member of the platform.

Over the years he has worked as an ICT-trendwatcher for Atos-Origin (then a Philips company), as a political adviser to the deputy mayor of Amsterdam on issues such as traffic, urban planning and telecommunications, as manager of an art house cinema in the heart of Amsterdam and as strategist at the Department of Environmental Protection in the Netherlands. He advised a wide array of leading companies (including Apple, ING Bank, KPN, Logica CMG, Philips, Shell), departments (PM's office, Economic Affairs, Education, Environmental Protection, Internal Affairs, Traffic, Spatial Planning) and cities (Amsterdam, Delft, Enschede, The Hague) on issues regarding knowledge economy and innovation. He did extensive research on national and regional innovation systems in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, California (Silicon Valley) and Sweden.

Frans has a Master's degree in Political Sciences from the University of Amsterdam and a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies from Wageningen University. He is a board member of the Holland Open Foundation (promoting open standards and open source) and was a member of the board of VPRO (Dutch public broadcasting company). He was chairmain of Cybersoek -a foundation that bridges the digital divide in poor neighborhoods in Amsterdam- and member of the advisory board of Studio-K, a new cultural center in Amsterdam.

Frans writes (in Dutch unfortunately) as a columnist for ScienceGuide.org and ManagementScope, a leading business magazine in the Netherlands. He's also a frequent guest on Business News Radio, a national radiostation, discussing innovation issues. He is a guest lecturer at several universities (Leiden, Utrecht) and has extensive experience as professional speaker on innovation, the public sector and leadership for a wide range of audiences.