M (Mireille) van Hilten MSc

Mireille van Hilten is a Senior Researcher at Wageningen Social Economic Research (part of WUR), based in The Netherlands and leads projects in digitalisation in agri-food, researching ethical, legal and social aspects of AI and the data economy. With experience in academia, industry and higher education, Mireille’s expertise is applied research of information technology in the context of its stakeholders, mainly end users like farmers, operators, managers, consumers and how to leverage data to address critical societal challenges.

Mireille holds a Master’s degree in Information Science from the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht and a Bachelor in User Centered Design focusing on the intersection of technology and society, particularly how data and digital innovations such as blockchain influence the organic food chain.

Mireille’s career has included roles in both the private sector and academia in various positions as a lecturer, researcher and consultant. At WUR, Mireille is at the forefront of research on the ethical and societal dimensions of AI to explore how AI can be used for societal and sustainability benefits, particularly through the ELSA lab program which identified ethical, legal and social aspects (ELSA) of digital technologies and more specifically AI for agriculture and food. Mireille’s work in the lab involves developing frameworks and guidelines to ensure that AI applications are ethically sound, legally compliant, and socially responsible. She collaborates with a multidisciplinary team to design AI systems that uphold principles of fairness, accountability, and transparency. Another notable project at WUR is www.Data4Food2030.eu, that researchers the data economy in agri-food and how to improve it so that it is fair to all stakeholders. It will provide a roadmap and policy recommendations by the end of 2026.

Previous projects included research on Blockchain and mass balance data for organic food sector (as part of Precision Farming 4.0 and TrustEat (Blockchain and nanotechnology), User Acceptance and Digital Innovation Hub (DIH) services in IoF2020 and AgROBOfood, Socio-ethical benefits and risks of Digital Twin, 5G in Agri-Food.

Mireille manages research projects in national and international environments and speaks Dutch, English and French. As a people person she easily connects people and intiatives.