Dr Wouter Grove

Wouter has a burning passion to understand better how fast evolving digital technologies, specifically digital platforms, impact society, social inclusion and democratic governance. He finds that working in the inspiring CoLab national and international ecosystem provides opportunities to engage with these issues through a multi-disciplinary lens and build research-driven interventions to contribute to inclusive digital and social innovation.

After completing a BAdmin in International Relations at the University of Pretoria, he started numerous businesses and worked in higher education, management consulting, risk management and finance, as well as with various technology start-ups. He has also worked as a project manager at the Constitutional Studies Laboratory of the Dullah Omar Institute for Constitutional Law, Governance and Human Rights at UWC. In 2014, he completed his MCom in Information Systems at UWC, focusing on the application of Serious Games in leadership development and joined the CoLab.

Wouter is the Western Cape CoLab Coordinator and Manager of the UWC Samsung Future-Innovation Lab. The Future-Innovation Lab is a multi-year software development and digital social innovation skills development programme funded by Samsung and hosted by the Office of the Deputy ViceChancellor: Research & Innovation at UWC.

Wouter has lectured in various undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Information Systems. His research interests include digital inclusion, knowledge management, inclusive innovation, designed serendipity, games in civic engagement, game-based learning and leadership development.

He holds a joint PhD awarded by UWC (PhD in Information Systems) and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Doctor of Media and Communication Studies).