Engineer.Nerd.Tech for something bigger.
I spent a good chunk of my life writing code. Until something started nagging: nice, all those lines of code — but what have I really achieved with them? Now I put those same skills to work protecting elephants, making young people more resilient online, and showing that technology makes a difference in the most unexpected places.
From code to conservation
As a kid I got my first computer (thanks, Dad) and was instantly hooked: gaming and programming, a die-hard nerd. That never really changed.
I've touched pretty much everything — millions of lines of code, apps, complex systems, running a business. Until one question kept nagging: am I doing the right things, and am I doing them as usefully as I can?
That brought me to Hack The Planet. Since then I use technology for problems that genuinely matter. No hype — just a camera in the forest, a model that recognises an elephant, and a village that gets warned in time.
Technology, put to work in the real world
No bells and whistles. Just smart, simple solutions in the places that need them most.
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01
Protecting animals with AI
Smart cameras with computer vision that recognise elephants and rhinos, detect poachers and help prevent human-wildlife conflict — from the rainforest in Gabon to the parks of Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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02
Making young people more resilient online
Helping build tools that make young people aware of online bullying and sexual abuse, and that help get the conversation started. Today only 1% find their way to support services — these tools aim to change that.
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03
Building what doesn't exist yet
Putting 20+ years of engineering experience to work building things that don't exist yet — pragmatic, robust, and made to run in the most remote places on earth.
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04
Telling the story
Showing from the stage that making an impact is possible, and inspiring others to put their own talent to work for good.
The question isn't 'can it be built?' — it's 'should it be built?'
However cool your workplace is — no slide in the world makes work meaningful. Putting your skills to work for something you truly believe in: that's what makes the difference.
A few places where it all comes together
At Hack The Planet I'm responsible for the entire tech stack — from the firmware on a device in the middle of the forest, to the cloud servers and the apps people work with. A few projects where that all comes together:
// Lopé NP, Gabon
Cameras that think for themselves in the rainforest
Researchers hung camera traps deep in the rainforest and could only return weeks later to collect the footage — slow and risky. I built cameras with AI on board and a satellite connection: it recognises what it sees and sends through only what matters, instantly. This pilot became the foundation for the smart cameras we now deploy worldwide.
- firmware
- on-device AI
- satellite
- cloud
// South Luangwa, Zambia
Spotting poachers where there's no network
How do you track poachers across such vast, remote areas? I built a sensor that detects the phones poachers carry. The moment it picks one up, the rangers get an alert — now they know where people are. Fully solar-powered, in places with no coverage at all. More than once that led to an arrest.
- RF detection
- LoRaWAN
- solar
- cloud
We scared off our first elephant with… Celine Dion.
Hi, Thijs here
Up for a good conversation about tech for good, got a question, or want to book me as a speaker? Drop me a message.
Want to put your own talent to work?
Ask yourself these three questions — the same ones I share from the stage.
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01What does the world need?
Look around and there are more than enough problems worth sinking your teeth into.
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02What truly fires you up?
Something you genuinely care about — and the realisation that you can actually do something about it.
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03How will you put your talent and time to work?
Start small: call a non-profit, join a hackathon, and see where it takes you.
Documentaries & conversations
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Hack The Planet — The Documentary
A feature documentary by Floris Tils about our work in Gabon, where AI camera systems track forest elephants in the rainforest.
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Living with bears in the Carpathians
Field footage from Romania — AI cameras and Smart Deterrents keeping brown bears out of mountain villages.
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I changed course and headed into the African jungle
A candid conversation about switching from code to conservation, and what that does to you.
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Rick-rolling elephants for a good cause
On scaring off elephants with music and tech that genuinely matters — with the necessary nerd humour.
From gaming to elephants
~$./show_history "Thijs Suijten"
- 1994 First computer at home (thanks, Dad). Instantly sold on gaming and programming.
- 2003 Graduated in computer science at The Hague University of Applied Sciences.
- after that At a small software company I really learned to program — and to build software products, with everything that comes with it. Soon became co-owner.
- 2012 I read The Lean Startup. A bit of a slap in the face: I'd been building features nobody needed. That's where I learned technology is a means, not an end in itself.
- then Worked on all kinds of (lean) startups. That's where my tech-for-good mindset really started to surface.
- 2015 Left my own company — not easy — and joined Q42. There I built apps used by millions every day, like PostNL, the Rijksmuseum and 9292.
- 2019 - now It started nagging again: am I doing something that truly matters? At Hack The Planet I put my skills to work for nature and people.
# this terminal is real — click it and type help