The world is becoming increasingly uncertain. Yet we hardly track in any systematic way what states are doing or how they are shifting their course. Could AI help us assign reliable, data-driven metrics to this? On Friday, November 13, HCSS Datalab Manager Jesse Kommandeur will be speaking at aiGrunn, the meeting place and knowledge platform for everyone working with AI, organized by Stekz.
Mapping a Fragmenting World: Using AI Responsibly to Put Numbers to Geopolitical Uncertainty
Jesse will present GENOME (Geopolitical Event News Observatory, Mapping, and Extraction), an open platform developed by the HCSS Datalab. It employs AI in a responsible manner to transform unstructured news data into quantifiable metrics regarding conflict and cooperation between nations. Just as genomics maps the building blocks of life, GENOME maps the building blocks of geopolitics.
The world is growing more uncertain, yet we still don’t formally track what states do on a global scale, how they behave, or how world leaders like Donald Trump shift course over time. This talk shows how GENOME (Geopolitical Event News Observatory, Mapping, and Extraction), an open platform, uses AI responsibly to turn unstructured data into quantitative insight on conflict and cooperation. Just as genomics maps the building blocks of biological life, GENOME maps those of geopolitics.
Jesse Kommandeur is a trained Data Scientist and Datalab Manager at HCSS, with a research portfolio on the interplay between technology, society and policy. Jesse leads a team where domain experts and technical specialists sharpen each other’s work, and drives the design and rollout of open-source tools and dashboards that bring NLP and generative AI into strategic analysis across defence, security and geopolitics. Holds an MSc in Data Science (cum laude) from the University of Amsterdam and previously led data-driven research projects for the Port of Rotterdam and the Dutch Police Academy.
- 🗓️ Friday, November 13, 2026, from 08:30
- 📍 Provincial House (Provinciehuis), Sint Jansstraat 4
- 🗣️ Language: Dutch / English
- 🎟️ Tickets: aigrunn.org/tickets
aiGrunn 2026: Government track
Public organisations carry a double burden with AI: it has to work, and it has to hold up to scrutiny. This track is about doing both, without disappearing into abstract policy. Governance, procurement, transparency and service delivery, told through what public organisations in the North have actually put into practice.
Responsible AI, past the policy paper.
This track is aimed at government bodies, municipalities, the province, executive agencies, policymakers, public professionals and public-sector innovation teams: everyone who has to turn principles about responsible AI into services that citizens actually use.
The speakers are public-sector leaders, policy experts, implementation teams and specialists who can talk about responsible use, governance, procurement and accountability, and back it up with cases. What was decided, what was bought, what was published, who was accountable when it went wrong.
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