Gerrit Baarda

Gerrit Baarda

Chief Innovation Officer

MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE

Gerrit Baarda (1969) studied at the Technical College in the city of Hilversum, and worked as a programmer in the development laboratory of IBM (in Amsterdam and Palo Alto). He is co-founder of ZiuZ, a successful and fast-growing, high-tech company in the field of visual intelligence. He has a passion for bike racing and speed skating, and sponsors a marathon speed skating team.

Baarda’s drive is to create things that are really worthwhile. And that’s exactly what he does. His inventions are used in the medical market, national and international police and security organisations, and have helped fight child abuse and other serious high impact crimes like drugs distribution. He is actually making the world a better place.
About making profit in his business he says: “Profit is like oxygen. You can’t do without it. But if it becomes your goal, you are a lung patient.”

He truly believes that people can achieve more than they often realize, and that one can make a difference as an individual. His credo is: if it feels right, just go for it!

What is TedX?

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At TEDxZwolle, live speakers will spark deep discussion and connection. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organised.