willem.com
Willem Laurentz Middelkoop

Willem L. Middelkoop

Willem (1985) chases opportunities in the field of information technology.

Oh, and he loves to ride his bike!

Experience

Lemmid B.V.: Information Technology Specialist

jan. 2013 - now

Lemmid provides internet services for selected Dutch and international customers. Lemmid B.V. is the company founded by Willem.

Together with the customer, Lemmid develops new IT products and services, including websites, web applications and apps.

dsd 164 B.V.: Mobile App Publisher

nov. 2011 - now

With a growing app portfolio dsd 164 is highly specialized in mobile app publishing. The app portfolio is downloaded millions of times by people all over the world.

Some of the apps have scored #1 chart positions in: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Finland, Israel, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, United Kingdom and Switzerland. Featured in many other rankings in the rest of the world.

Publishing apps is not a trivial business. It requires the expertise to adequately understand app store dynamics, rankings and the influence of media coverage and social media. In order to seriously monetize apps a deep understanding of app business models is essential.

As a representative of dsd 164 B.V. Willem has direct contact with people from Apple, Google and Microsoft. That includes talking about formal things like optimizing app performance to the informal state of the weather abroad.

DigiDef: security consultant

sep. 2015 - now

DigiDef is a specialised bureau of Lemmid B.V. that analyses existing computer systems and offers help with improving security. DigiDef has first hand experience with using and fending off different hacking techniques.

In addition DigiDef has more than 10 years of experience with analysing trace evidence of hack attempts. Often it becomes clear how the hackers worked and in some cases it is possible to identify the perpetrator.

Willem & Laurentz Holding B.V.: Investor and CEO

jul. 2009 - now

The Willem & Laurentz Holding B.V. invests in technology related companies. It is actively contributing to the development of new initiatives.

As CEO, Willem is end responsible for the correct administration of subsidiaries. This includes legal affairs, tax administration and daily operations. It requires understanding of the whereabouts of its subsidiaries.

As investor, Willem is actively working together with other entrepreneurs to stimulate new initiatives. It often involves listening to initiatives, judging worthiness and really getting the "hands dirty" by experimenting with new technologies and concepts.

WMIT: Self employed IT specialist

jan. 2005 - dec. 2012

WMIT is the name of the company founded by Willem during his time as student and has evolved into a firm with approximately 150 customers since then.

WMIT developed specialised software for a variety of mainly Dutch and some international customers. Under the supervision its founder the company's activities continue under the name of "Lemmid B.V.".

Zarafa, Delft: Product developer

sep. 2005 - jan. 2006

Zarafa is an internationally awarded open source email and collaboration platform. The platform is often used to replace other infrastructures like Microsoft Exchange. Both public and private organisations use Zarafa every day to do their business (healthcare, government, retail and manufacturing, education, travel, finance etc).

The work as product developer included gathering detailed information and insights of the existing product. The main objective was to identify it's multi platform capabilities. This included research of essential components of the Zarafa Collaboration Platform, like authentication, mail transport agents and database backend. The extensive knowledge of the platform was also used to talk to potential customers on the international technology fair: CeBIT.

E-Commerce Parc, Curaçao: Network Operations Center Operator

aug. 2004 - jan. 2005

The E-Commerce Park Curaçao is a modern internet data center attracting customers from the United States, Europe and Asia due to the optimal tax and gambling legalisations.

The network operators have responsibility in monitoring the advanced redundant network and server infrastructure. Part of the job includes advanced troubleshooting in close collaboration with customers abroad.

Ex Machina, Amsterdam: Product documentation writer

jun. 2004 - aug 2004

Ex Machina has its roots in three domains: games, social media and TV. Way before the rise of the mobile app stores, Ex Machina offered the first SDK to help developers create multiplayer games.

The ability to produce product documentation required detailed insights of the multiplayer platform that Ex Machina offered to its customers. A requirement to the documentation was that it could be updated rapidly, partially automated.

Education

Universiteit van Amsterdam: Master Informatiekunde / Master in Information Studies, Business Information Systems

2006 - 2009

Instead of focusing on the detailed knowledge of technology, the programme places a greater emphasis on the knowledge of application contexts and the socio-technical design and implementation aspects.

Insight into the way in which Information Studies theories where developed through a combination of insights from social and economic sciences and computer science.

Knowledge of the social, strategic and organisational implications of the application of modern ICT technologies and be able to independently transform this knowledge into policy choices.

Have knowledge of information and knowledge management in a broad sense.

Microsoft Certified Application Developer for Microsoft .NET

2005 - 2006

Microsoft Certified Professional and Certified Application Developer since 2005 (MCP ID# 3527257).

Build, deploy, and maintain Microsoft Windows and Web applications using technologies such as C# web and windows application, SQL server, XML with ASP.NET.

Hogeschool van Amsterdam (University of Applied Sciences): Bachelor of Information and Communication Technology (EN) / Ingenieur (NL)

2002 - 2006

Learn to work successfully in the field of information technology and electrical engineering. Professional fields include:

Veenlanden College, Mijdrecht: HAVO, Natuur en Techniek

1997 - 2002

Dutch school for higher general secondary education. With a choice for the profile of Nature and Science. Notable courses:

DOC Praktijkdiploma machineschrijven (machine writing)

1998-1999

Learn to type without looking at the keyboard. With 10 fingers, at very high speeds.

Sounds trivial, but provides a great advantage.

Swimming certificate A

Sep. 1991

Volunteer

"ComputerBrigade" at Multibron, Venserpolder, Amsterdam (Stadsdeel Zuidoost)

nov. 2014 - dec. 2018

At a weekly basis Willem helps ordinary people from the Amsterdam Venserpolder neighbourhood with their computer and internet problems. The audience is of all ages (20-90 years), everybody is welcome, regardless of language or skills. Willem explains how to fill out digital forms, do internet banking, communicate with e-mail and Facebook among other things.

On his work at Multibron Willem comments:

“It feels good to help people. It really does. I also find it unsettling that our modern interconnected society effectively creates digital barriers for those who are not that tech saffy.”

Publications

Willem's Blog

On his blog Willem describes the things he encounters in his work and life. The blog gained in popularity (>20K views/month) and has readers from all over the world. From 2016 at https://willem.com/blog/

Valuable Innovation: Organising innovation for more than material value (2009)

In this master thesis an extensive literature research over a longitudinal period of fourteen years reveals a focus on material value in terms of tangible, visible and easy to measure assets. This focus manifests itself in six prominent themes derived out of 95 selected papers published in MIS Quarterly, an established, well-acknowledged and influential journal in the field of information systems research. Publications were selected on relevance with regard to innovation due to the association of information systems with change and development. A broader concept of value is identified and constructed out of two concepts, immaterial value and immaterial values. Although they only differ by one letter in name, their theoretical underpinning and the implications for information systems research differs widely. By defining immaterial value as a measurable result of the interplay of human, structural and customer capital, insights in existing literature with a focus on output are augmented, quantified and decomposed. In contrast, the emphasis on social interaction, mutual understanding and the need for imagination by using metaphors, makes the concept of immaterial values applicable to themes with a focus on input variables and conditions. The broader concept of value is applied to contemporary theory and practice. The overall finding is that by applying a broader concept of value, the field of information systems research can be enriched. PDF

Blauwdruk van de succesvolle webinkel: betere prestaties door consumentenbegrip en vertrouwen (2007)

Ieder jaar komen er enkele duizenden nieuwe webwinkels bij in Nederland (Kamer van Koophandel 2006). Veel webwinkels redden het niet. Uit onderzoek blijkt dat het aankoopproces van de consument niet altijd even goed wordt ondersteund. Het aankoopproces is drieledig (Zeng & Reinartz 2003): zoeken, evalueren en transactie. Volgens Lee (2002) speelt vertrouwen een belangrijke rol bij het aankoopgedrag van de consument. Beide onderzoeken belichten een belangrijk deel succescriteria voor webwinkels. Toch ontbreekt er op dit moment een geïntegreerd model wat gebruikt kan worden door webwinkels om prestatie te analyseren en te verbeteren. Het doel van dit onderzoek is het integreren van verschillende theorieën in een blauwdrukachtig model. Het onderzoek beslaat een uitgebreide literatuurstudie met als aanvulling een case analyse. Er wordt ingegaan op het begrip vertrouwen en wordt duidelijk hoe vertrouwen tot stand komt. De case analyse belicht processen van webwinkels vanachter de schermen. Op die manier wordt er optimaal inzicht verkregen om een model op te stellen. PDF

Articles (153)