The Vietsch Foundation was created by Willem Karel Vietsch (1952-2014) through his last will and testament. The foundation was established on the day of his death, the 23th of February 2014.
Karel was very involved in the Internet community. He spent a large part of his life working in the area of research and education networking, which he help developing with his energy, creativity and thorough methodical approach. Sadly, his early death, put a stop to Karel's mission to support people and new developments, therefore he created the Vietsch Foundation, with the official objective of promoting "research into and development of advanced technology for scientific research and higher education”, in the widest sense. Karel himself appointed the trustees of the Foundation.
Latest News Releases
The Vietsch Foundation awards the 2021 Medal of Honour to Laurel Haak. Laurel L. Haak, Founding Executive Director of ORCID, is the recipient of the 2021 medal of honour of the Vietsch Foundation. The medal is awarded annually to people who have made a contribution of lasting value to the research and development of advanced Internet technology aimed to support science, research and higher education. The 2021 award ceremony was held online on the 22nd of June, during a plenary … read more
Funded in 2020 – The Vietsch Foundation funded the publication of “Targeted Online”, a handbok by the European Digital Rights (EDRi), an association of civil and human rights organisations from across Europe. The web has become a place where visiting a webpage triggers many effects elsewhere, where advertising technology results in a surveillance ecosystem. Yet people still think of the ‘friendly’ world wide web of the nineties. The “Targeted Onlie” handbook is intended for curious internet users who want … read more