Jan Willis Nillessen

Consultant

Escritórios: Netherlands

Email: janwillis.nillessen@technopolis-group.com

Jan Willis Nillessen MSc is a consultant at Technopolis Group, based in the Amsterdam office. His professional areas of interest include the development of start-ups and scale-ups, regional economics and technological innovations. Jan Willis is trained and has experience in both qualitative and quantitative research methods, including interviews, designing and conducting workshops, surveys, statistical analysis and Python.

Jan Willis has experience in advising on and evaluating policies, programs and organisations, both nationally and internationally. At Technopolis, he evaluated various financial and innovation instruments. He has conducted research into the impact of Brexit on Flemish entrepreneurs and the impact of the Brexit Adjustment Reserve, intended to help entrepreneurs deal with Brexit. he has experience with development processes of start-ups and scale-ups through his role in the evaluation of the Innovation Credit, an instrument that provides loans to SME entrepreneurs who carry out high-risk technical and clinical development projects. At the European level, he has been involved in the foresight study for the new European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, the successor to Horizon Europe. He is currently working on the mid-term evaluation of Partners for Water 5 of RVO; with this programme, the Netherlands helps other countries to improve their water security.

Jan Willis holds a Master’s degree in Economic Geography, with a specialisation in Innovative Entrepreneurship and Regional Economics. Prior to joining Technopolis, he worked as a consultant and project manager, contributing to housing projects for municipalities and provinces, mainly focusing on complex urbanisation challenges and governance issues. In addition, he gained experience at the regional development company Oost NL, where he researched the spatial distribution and regional added value of European accelerators for innovative start-ups and scale-ups. He has also worked at a consulting firm, where he analysed policy and legislative processes for public and private organizations. His experience in both spatial economics and public administration enables him to provide practical advice on behalf of Technopolis.

Jan Willis is fluent in Dutch and English.