Marleen Stikker studied philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. As 'mayor' of the 'Digital City' (DDS) in Amsterdam, she developed the first European free gateway and virtual community on the internet in 1993, a place where citizens, organisations, companies and publishers made their first steps onto ‘the electronic highway’. In 1994 Stikker founded ‘Waag Society’, a medialab, developing creative technological applications for societal innovation.