About Me ¶

Quick Facts

Name: Robbert Schep
Date of birth: August 3, 1986
Roles: Concept Designer, Researcher, Socio-Technical Architect, Developer, 4_1_1_entrepreneur_founder Smartup Zero
Focus: Collaborative systems, democratic governance, human-centered innovation, MANET (Mobile Ad Hoc Meshnetworking), EU-based sovereign technologies
Based in: Netherlands/Portugal
let's connect

Who I Am¶

I’m Robbert Schep — an entrepreneurial concept designer, researcher, and builder of socio-technical systems. My work lives at the intersection of technology, culture, and collaborative governance.

For over two decades, I’ve been exploring how humans can work together more effectively to tackle the complex challenges of our time.

I’ve founded and led projects that combine technical innovation with human-centered design — from Onlive, a smartphone-based mesh networking system for transient social networks, to Smartup Zero, an EU-focused sovereign technology platform built to empower communities with democratic governance and resilient digital infrastructure.

What excites me most is designing systems that learn as they go — combining science, technology, and lived human experience, evolving through iteration.

What drives me?¶

Simple, my unborn son

Dear O, You won't be born yet when I finally hand over my work the world. You are still safe in the belly of my dearest and most beautiful S, your proud mother. She is taking a nap on the couch while I finish the last few kilometres of a two-month coding marathon. At the finish line, I will start the big Smartup Zero experiment for the third time. I have tried twice before. Both times half-baked. Not well prepared. I didn't have the right environment, angle, or tools. This time, a lot is different. The biggest change? You. You are coming, and I want you to enter a world where I have been able to add a reason for hope. That is why I dedicate all my work, ideas, and research to you and your mother. Your mother will make sure you are born healthy. I will make sure the world is a little healthier for you. That is my hope, that is my dream.

Hope is nothing without a good strategy, O. In the world you are born into, strategy seems to have been lost. People hope for the best but know better: there is nothing we can do about it. People are good by nature, but you should know that our nature is easily corrupted when we get isolated. And that is exactly what has happened since the beginning of the new millennium. We have been slowly but surely stripped of our authenticity, identity, and above all, our collectivity. We are social animals. Never let anyone tell you otherwise. We are made to live in small groups; that's when we are at our best. That's when we make the best decisions and can take on any challenge. Take away that collectivity, authenticity, and identity, and what remains is an insecure, easily influenced creature that allows itself to be commanded, directed, and frightened. On the surface, we humans have evolved enormously, but if you look closer, we are docile sheep that do exactly what the shepherd dogs bark at us to do. Those shepherd dogs, in turn, only listen to their shepherds. They are the richest people in the world. You won't see them behind their high walls. They have grabbed all the money and power and are doing everything they can to keep it that way and get even more. Always wanting more. And that while they know perfectly well that soon there will be no pasture left to live off. They don't care because they won't need the pastureland anyway. They already have their castles ready.

I know, O. It sounds like a horrific reality, and it is. Few people dare to face that reality, and even more consciously look away. It's easy to lose yourself in alternative realities, all those screens in our lives, all those fictional worlds. I want you to know, O, that I haven't done that. I've been staring at that reality for a long time and first tried to define it carefully. Then I devised a strategy for how we could change that reality, and now I am going to implement that strategy. I have come to a core insight that I have made the essence of my working life: if you give people different tools, they make different things. It sounds simple, but it is not. When I was growing up, our world changed drastically. After 15,000 years of using analog tools to understand and shape the world around us, we suddenly started using digital tools en masse. Whereas the analog tools belonged to us (the hammer was mine), the digital tools belonged to someone else. I only had access to them via a computer that often wasn't mine either. This seemingly innocent nuance has been decisive in robbing us of our authenticity, identity, and collectivity. It is what has isolated us, made us naked and vulnerable. We now paint what is expected of us to paint. My generation has become addicted to these digital tools. I have become addicted. Now we are slowly but surely losing the will to fight.

Not me, O. I became increasingly steadfast in my idea. It just became increasingly difficult to implement. My ideas for creating a new toolset were so radically different and meta that I found less and less connection to our existing system. I was a system-change architect trapped in a system that refused to change. That's how it often felt. It felt like there was no place for me. I turned inward and became increasingly fragmented in my mind. I described myself as a postmodern astronaut. I couldn't return to Earth. But when S told me she was pregnant with you, I was instantly brought back to earth. You motivated me to try again. But this time, I would set up the whole experiment myself. In such a way that it would meet my own values and principles. What I have created won't change the world by itself, but it can build the tools you'll need to give it a fair shot. The time is finally ready. This is for you, O.

your proud father,

Robbert Schep

Mapping me¶

mindmap
  %% Root node with standout color
  root((Robbert Schep))

    Identity
      Roles
        Concept Designer
        Researcher
        Entrepreneur
      Values
        Human-centered innovation
        Collaborative governance
        System thinking

    Skills
      Core Skills
        System Architecture
        Leadership
        UX Design
      Hard Skills
        Python
        Typescript
        LLM Trainer


    Projects
      Smartup Zero
        Sovereign EU tech
      Onlive
        Mesh networking
      Timeline0.org
        Knowledge graph


    Creativity
      Songwriter
      Composer

My Strengths¶

Core Skills

Seeing the whole system — Thinking in connections, patterns, and feedback loops.
Leadership — Natural leader that builds teams and communities around ideas.
Bringing research to life — Translating theory into working prototypes.
Building bridges — Connecting engineers, academics, creatives, and communities.
Creative-technical hybrid — Able to sketch ideas, code prototypes, and tell their stories.
Collaborative governance champion — Designing democratic processes for decision-making and ownership.
Specialist in EU-based sovereign technologies — Developing open-source, privacy-respecting systems aligned with European digital sovereignty goals.

Hard Skills

Decentralized System Design — Architecting resilient peer-to-peer networks for mesh and ad-hoc communication.
Open-Source Protocol Development — Designing and implementing communication protocols for distributed systems.
Community Governance & Democratic Systems — Creating frameworks for collective decision-making and ownership.
Sustainable Development Integration — Aligning tech solutions with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Scientific Research & Validation — Collaborating with institutions (e.g., TNO, Hanzehogeschool Groningen) to test and validate solutions.
Agile Project Management — Leading iterative development and adaptation cycles.
Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration — Bridging technology, academia, and community stakeholders.
Technical Documentation & Knowledge Sharing — Maintaining open, transparent project documentation.
AI & LLM Training — Training and optimizing AI agents for knowledge systems (including recent role at Outlier).
Programming Languages & Tools — Proficient in Python, Typescript, Objective-C, Kotlin, and UX design tools (Sketch, Adobe XD).

How I Work¶

I don’t fear uncertainty — I work with it. I treat every experiment as a way to gather data, and every “failure” as a stepping stone to better systems.

I’m happiest when building something new with others — something that pushes boundaries but is grounded in the reality of human needs and behaviors.

Selected Projects¶

Project	Description	Partners
Smartup Zero	EU-focused sovereign socio-technical governance & currency platform empowering distributed collaboration, built on open-source mesh networking principles.	Clever Cloud
Onlive	Mesh networking protocols for transient social networks, validated in pilot projects with TNO and Hanzehogeschool Groningen.	TNO, Hanzehogeschool Groningen
Groovidi	Audio watermarking for interactive live events.	Johan Cruijff ArenA
Vidimoda	Bluetooth beacon system for location-based storytelling.	Labbee Fashion
Outlier	AI model training and optimization for natural language understanding.	Outlier

Beyond Tech¶

I’m also a songwriter, composer, and storyteller. My music has appeared in films, series, and award-winning shorts.

Creativity isn’t a side project for me — it’s the same muscle I use in technology: combining structure with imagination and building things that resonate.

CV/timeline¶

---
config:
  look: neo
  theme: neo-dark
---
graph TD
    Early_Foundations["Early Foundations"]
    Academic_Deep_Dive["Academic Deep Dive"]
    Creative_Digital_Exploration["Creative & Digital Exploration"]
    Building_Ventures["Building Ventures & Ideas"]
    Smartup_Onlive["Smartup Zero & Onlive Evolution"]
    Parallel_Work["Parallel Creative Work"]
    Early_Foundations --> Academic_Deep_Dive
    Academic_Deep_Dive --> Creative_Digital_Exploration
    Creative_Digital_Exploration --> Building_Ventures
    Building_Ventures --> Smartup_Onlive
    Smartup_Onlive --> Parallel_Work
    subgraph Early_Foundations
        EF1["1998-2003: HAVO – Economy & Society (Het Veenlandencollege)"]
        EF2["2003-2004: Propedeuse – Communication Management (Hogeschool Utrecht)"]
    end
    subgraph Academic_Deep_Dive
        AD1["2005-2009: BA – Theatre, Film, and Television Studies (Universiteit Utrecht)"]
        AD2["2009-2011: MA – New Media & Digital Culture (Universiteit Utrecht)"]
    end
    subgraph Creative_Digital_Exploration
        CE1["2011: Web Editor – Presenter BV"]
        CE2["2011-2012: Project Coordinator & Concept Developer – Brandambassadors BV"]
    end
    subgraph Building_Ventures
    BV1["2013-2024: Founder & Director – RS New Media Concepts BV"]
    BV2["2013-2017: Developed Groovidi & Vidimoda (event technologies)"]
    BV3["2017: Won Hackathon – Campus Party Utrecht with Onlive project"]
    BV4["2017-2018: Context Engine for transient social networks with TNO"]
    BV1 --> BV2
    BV2 -.-> BV3
    BV3 --> BV4
    end
    subgraph Smartup_Onlive
        SO1["2019-2020: Smartup Zero Whitepaper + governance principles implementation"]
        SO2["2020-2022: Onlive UX prototyping – Erasmus+ & academic partners"]
        SO3["2023-2024: Onlive mesh protocol design paper – Hanzehogeschool Groningen"]
    end
    subgraph Parallel_Work
    PW1["2019-2023: Online Production Assistant – The School of Life Amsterdam"]
    PW2["2021: Award-winning short film 'Geen Hond in Amsterdam' – music & co-writing"]
    PW3["2024: Title song for Dutch children’s series 'Tentje Plof'"]
    PW4["2025: AI trainer at Outlier"]
    PW1 --> PW2
    PW2 -.-> PW3
    PW3 --> PW4
    end

Portfolio Overview¶

Smartup Zero

EU-focused sovereign socio-technical governance platform empowering decentralized collaboration.

Skills: Decentralized System Design, Community Governance, Open-Source Protocols, Agile Project Management, Technical Documentation.

View details
ONLIFE Mesh Network

MVP of smartphone-based emergency mesh network for transient social networks, validated with academic partners.

Skills: Peer-to-Peer Networking, Protocol Development, Scientific Validation, Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration, Sustainable Development.

Track progress
Groovidi & Vidimoda

Event technologies: audio watermarking and Bluetooth beacon location storytelling.

Skills: Creative-Technical Hybrid, UX Design, Prototype Development, Cross-Functional Teamwork.

See Groovidi video
Award-Winning Short Film: "Geen Hond in Amsterdam"

Co-writer and composer for this acclaimed short film featured in festivals.

Skills: Storytelling, Music Composition, Collaborative Production.

Watch Film
Title Song: "Tentje Plof" (Dutch Children’s Series)

Composer and songwriter for the theme song of this popular children’s show.

Skills: Songwriting, Composition, Production.

Listen