Afke van Rijn has an educational background in technical computer science from the Technical University of Delft, from which she also obtained a PhD. Ms. van Rijn studied linguistics and linguistic philosophy and business administration too. She spent her professional career mainly within national ministries, first working for the Dutch ministry of economic affairs and since 2008 for the ministry of interior and kingdom relations. She was director for safety and security until January 2012 when she became director of the integration and society department.