Norm Engineering Conference 2026

Where regulation meets engineering; a gathering designed for government & business leaders, policymakers, legal engineers, and academic researchers. 

12 March 2026 | The Hague Conference Center New Babylon

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Shared ambitions:

Rule as Code Europe 2026

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ICTU
Govtech4all
why join Norm Engineering Conference 2026?

Why attend?

  • Learn how norms and regulations are engineered into real systems

  • Connect with experts shaping Rules as Code and regulatory digitalization

  • Practical insights, not only theory

  • Cross-disciplinary audience (engineering, legal, public sector)

Last year in 2 minutes

  • 9 presentations on the latest RegTech developments ​
  • 10 countries represented​
  • +95 global industry professionals​
  • Trusted by regulators, engineers, and policy teams across Europe
who join norm engineering conference 2026

Who is this for?

  • Policy makers & legislative bodies

  • Software and legal engineers

  • RegTech, LegalTech & Consultancy professionals

  • Researchers and academics

What's on this year's agenda

  • Below you’ll find the high-over schedule. Over the coming weeks, we’ll publish the full agenda:

    • Date: 12 March 2026 
    • Time: 09:30 to 19:00 CET
    • Location: The Hague Conference Centre New Babylon
    • Sessions: Round table, keynotes, presentations, panel discussion and networking. 
    • Catering: Lunch and drinks included 
    • Limited free entrance

Latest research on norm representation

How do we deal with the representation of norms in different circumstances?

lastest research

State of the art in AI and norm engineering

Explore how artificial intelligence can support the representation, interpretation, and application of legal norms. 

AI and Norm Engineering

Reasoning and engineering at scale

How can we do reasoning and engineering at a larger scale and make it more sustainable?

reasoning and engineering

Latest Research on Norm Representation

lastest research

State of the Art in AI and Norm Engineering

AI and Norm Engineering

Reasoning and Engineering at Scale

reasoning and engineering

Educating professionals for digital regulation

How can we enable professionals in government organizations and regulated entities to work with machine-readable regulations? 

prepare professionals

Grow a digital-ready workforce

What’s needed to enable your workforce to become digital-ready? 

digital ready workforce

Norm Engineering in practice

How can we truly embed the practice of norm engineering in day-to-day policy practice?

embed NE [Converted]

Prepare Public Institutions and Professionals to Work with MRR

prepare professionals

Explore what's Needed to Grow a Digital-Ready Workforce

digital ready workforce

Embed Norm Engineering in Policy Practice​

embed NE [Converted]

Scaling Norm Engineering

What is needed to do Norm Engineering at scale in real-world situations?

scaling in real-life

Productization, tooling, and standards

How can we productize Norm Engineering solutions using the right tooling and standards?

productization, tooling and standards

Ecosystem collaboration

How can we set up a sustainable Norm Engineering Ecosystem that promotes collaboration and expands its reach beyond early adopters? 

ecosystem collaboration

Scaling Norm Engineering in Real-Life Environments

scaling in real-life

Productization, Tooling, and Standards

productization, tooling and standards

Ecosystem Collaboration

ecosystem collaboration

Legislative government bodies

Discover how Norm Engineering can help draft better regulations, reduce burdens, and deregulate. 

legislative government bodies

Executive government bodies

Learn how Norm Engineering helps to execute regulations and policies more effectively and citizen friendly. 

executive government bodies

Regulated entities

Uncover the benefits of Norm Engineering for regulated entities when it comes to complying with regulations. 

regulated entities

Legislative Government Bodies

legislative government bodies

Executive Government Bodies

executive government bodies

Regulated Entities

regulated entities
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The Agenda

09:15 - 09:30 Reception

Arrival, registration, and informal networking with coffee.

Welcome and opening remarks about the future of Norm Engineering, hosted by Matthew Gracie – Managing Director | Risk, Regulatory & Forensics at Deloitte US, and Hugo Ehrnreich – CEO at Be Informed. 

Matthew Gracie
Hugo Ehrnreich

This is a round table discussion where experts will explore expectations, ambitions, and opportunities for Norm Engineering.

Matthew Gracie
Geert Rensen - Be Informed

As AI systems evolve from static models to autonomous workflows capable of planning, acting, and adapting with minimal human intervention, questions of trust and control become critical. This talk examines four foundational pillars required to deploy autonomous AI responsibly at scale: explainability, traceability, reproducibility, and accountability. In this session, Tom van Engers and Sander Klous will discuss how the complexity of multi-step, tool-using, and self-improving AI workflows challenges traditional approaches to model interpretability and auditability.

Tom van Engers
Sander Klous
Abram Klop

In this presentation, Ivar Timmer, professor at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, will explain how Norm Engineering requires new ways of working and new skills across government roles. He will share how Dutch universities developed modular, interdisciplinary courses and how the GRIP learning outcomes framework helps educators and government organizations systematically build professional expertise in Norm Engineering.

Ivar Timmer

In this session, Robert van Doesburg and Vincent van Dijk explore the relationship between different standards and methods. They discuss where the approaches overlap, how they differ in purpose and scope, and what each contributes to the engineering of regulation. Drawing on practical experience and research, the presentation provides clarity on how these approaches can complement each other and where distinct choices need to be made when designing and implementing regulatory systems.

Robert van Doesburg
Vincent van Dijk

A complimentary international lunch is served in the foyer. 

In this section, Geert Rensen and Ronald Heller from Be Informed, will discuss practical examples that demonstrate real-world applications and impact.

Geert Rensen - Be Informed
Ronald Heller

In this session, Maaike de Boer, senior scientist at TNO, will present how artificial intelligence can support the representation, interpretation, and application of legal norms. The presentation highlights current capabilities, limitations, and emerging research directions, with a focus on responsible and explainable use of AI in regulatory contexts.

Maaike de Boer

In this session, Stijn Vandeweyer and Sara Maes will explain how the Flemish government will tackle its permitting challenges, using a combination of a digital regulatory database, a large language model, norm engineering, and a dynamic case management platform. 

To be updated

Matthew Gracie

This session explores the introduction of the Dutch Omgevingswet (Environment and Planning Act). This act is supported by the introduction of a nationwide digital ecosystem: the Digitaal Stelsel Omgevingswet (DSO), with the Omgevingsloket as its public one-stop shop. Together, they represent a systemic innovation in making environmental and planning law machine-readable, geo-referenced and executable. It is one of the world’s first large‑scale innovative implementations of Rules as Code (Norm Engineering).

Martijn Ligthart

This session, Matthijs ten Hoedt covers the journey of the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce KVK began in 2023 to become more agile in the implementation of legislation. Topics that will be addressed include the challenges the organisation is facing, the vision, and the practical steps KVK is taking with the Data Atlas.

To be confirmed

Matthew Gracie
Peter van Humbeeck

Closing

Matthew Gracie

Speakers and Presentations

Click on the speakers' pictures to learn more.

Matthew Gracie

Matthew Gracie
 Deloitte

Hugo Ehrnreich

Hugo Ehrnreich
Be Informed

Robert van Doesburg

Robert van Doesburg
TNO 

Tom van Engers

Tom van Engers
University of Amsterdam

Sander Klous

Sander Klous
University of Amsterdam

Geert Rensen - Be Informed

Geert Rensen
Be Informed

Ronald Heller

Ronald Heller
Be Informed

Maaike de Boer

Maaike de Boer
TNO

Vincent van Dijk

Vincent van Dijk
Pharosius

Ivar Timmer

Ivar Timmer
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences

Stijn Vandeweyer

Stijn Vandeweyer
Deloitte

Sara Maes
Deloitte

Martijn Ligthart

Martijn Ligthart
Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations

Matthijs ten Hoedt

Matthijs ten Hoedt
The Netherlands Chamber of Commerce KVK

Abram Klop

Abram Klop
Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations

Geert Rensen - Be Informed

Maaike de Boer
???

Geert Rensen - Be Informed

Maaike de Boer
???

Geert Rensen - Be Informed

Maaike de Boer
???

Brought to you by

Be Informed Partner_Deloitte
Be Informed Partner_TNO
be informed
University of Amsterdam
what is norm engineering

What is norm engineering?

Norm Engineering converts legal language and regulations into structured data models. This standardized approach allows organizations to automate regulatory interpretation, making compliance systems more accurate in analyzing and monitoring legal requirements.

In collaboration with the University of Amsterdam, TNO, Deloitte, and Be Informed have launched a Norm Engineering programme. This initiative aims to create methods and tools for clear, unambiguous regulatory interpretation. The FLINT language, a key outcome, translates social, ethical, and legal norms into a format both humans and systems understand, enabling seamless automation.

Count me in!

Rule as code Europe

10 - 11 March 2026 | The Hague

Rules as Code Europe brings together policymakers, legal experts, technologists, and practitioners working on making legislation and regulation machine-readable and executable for digital government. The conference focuses on translating rules into code to support consistent interpretation, transparency, and scalable implementation.

Rules as Code Europe and the Norm Engineering Conference share a common ambition to improve how regulation is designed and applied in practice. While Rules as Code focuses on executable legislation, Norm Engineering provides the conceptual foundations for structuring norms. Together, the two events offer complementary perspectives on digital regulation. 

Learn more at: www.rules-as-code.nl

compliance infographic
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Translating Ambition into Action

In this opening keynote, Matthew Gracie kicks off the day by exploring what becomes possible when norm engineering is combined with the latest advances in AI. He shows how structured legal norms, reasoning models, and large language models together enable regulation to be interpreted, analyzed, and applied at a scale that was previously out of reach.


The keynote focuses on how these capabilities bring clarity to complex regulatory landscapes, supporting more consistent interpretation, faster analysis, and more reliable execution. Matthew sets the stage for the conference by outlining how this shift changes the way governments can work with regulation in practice, moving from complexity to clarity, and from fragmentation to coherence.

Matthew Gracie

Matthew Gracie
Managing Director | Strategy+Analytics
Deloitte US

Matthew Gracie is a managing director in the Strategy & Analytics team at Deloitte Consulting LLP. He leads Deloitte’s Regulatory Intelligence portfolio and is a thought leader with global and national experience in strategy, analytics, marketing, and consulting.

Opening: Norm Engineering from ambition to action

Welcome and opening remarks about the future of Norm Engineering, hosted by Matthew Gracie – Managing Director | Risk, Regulatory & Forensics at Deloitte US, and Hugo Ehrnreich – CEO at Be Informed. 

Hugo Ehrnreich

Hugo Ehrnreich
Chief Executive Officer
Be Informed

Hugo has a 25+ year track record in growing global Enterprise B2B SaaS technology companies in digital transformation, business intelligence, and analytics, ranging from Amadeus IT group to Slideworx (now mTab) and CXO Software (now Insightsoftware). Prior to joining Be informed, Hugo was CEO at Bizzdesign. Hugo has a rich international background and holds an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and an MBA from INSEAD.

Rules as Code and Norm Engineering

In this session, Robert van Doesburg explores the relationship between Rules as Code and Norm Engineering. He discusses where the two approaches overlap, how they differ in purpose and scope, and what each contributes to the engineering of regulation. Drawing on practical experience and research, the presentation provides clarity on how these approaches can complement each other and where distinct choices need to be made when designing and implementing regulatory systems.
Robert van Doesburg

Robert van Doesburg
Scientist
TNO

Robert van Doesburg, a scientist at TNO, specializes in systemic interpretations of regulations. With a background in chemistry, he has extensive experience as a consultant (1995-2005) and civil servant (2005-2020), including his work on a rule-based information system for the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND). Currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Amsterdam, Robert contributes to TNO’s Norm Engineering program, developing tools to interpret regulations and apply norms and rules in case reasoning.

Explainability, Traceability, Reproducability and Accountability with Autonomous AI Workflows

As AI systems evolve from static models to autonomous workflows capable of planning, acting, and adapting with minimal human intervention, questions of trust and control become critical. This talk examines four foundational pillars required to deploy autonomous AI responsibly at scale: explainability, traceability, reproducibility, and accountability. We will discuss how the complexity of multi-step, tool-using, and self-improving AI workflows challenges traditional approaches to model interpretability and auditability.

We will discuss how we explore practical patterns for capturing and surfacing explanations of system behavior at the level of decisions, tools, and workflow graphs; designing robust traceability via fine-grained logging, data and model lineage, and event-based observability; enforcing reproducibility through configuration management, dataset versioning, and deterministic execution where possible; and embedding accountability with human-in-the-loop checkpoints, governance policies, and clear responsibility assignment. Realistic scenarios—such as autonomous data analysis pipelines, decision-support agents, and workflow orchestrators.

By the end of the talk, attendees will be updated with our research programme that is aimed at providing a conceptual framework and a set of concrete design principles for building autonomous AI workflows that are not only powerful and adaptive, but also inspectable, debuggable, and governable in real-world organizational contexts.

Tom van Engers

Pr. Dr. Tom van Engers
Legal knowledge management | Faculty of Law
University of Amsterdam

He conducts research on AI and law, with a specific focus on normative reasoning. He has been engaged in research on AI and law since 1983 and has worked on both knowledge-driven and data-driven AI methods. He has coordinated a large number of (inter)national research projects. He is involved in five research projects funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). In all of these projects, AI ensures within the relevant application domains that the behavior of systems remains within socially, ethically, and legally acceptable boundaries, in other words, that normative control over these systems is maintained. The fundamental research carried out at the Leibniz Institute, a collaboration between the University of Amsterdam with two participating faculties (Science, Mathematics and Computer Science, and Law), and TNO with its focus on applied research, enables TNO to further strengthen its position as a thought leader in the field of “conscientious AI.”

Explainability, Traceability, Reproducability and Accountability with Autonomous AI Workflows

As AI systems evolve from static models to autonomous workflows capable of planning, acting, and adapting with minimal human intervention, questions of trust and control become critical. This talk examines four foundational pillars required to deploy autonomous AI responsibly at scale: explainability, traceability, reproducibility, and accountability. We will discuss how the complexity of multi-step, tool-using, and self-improving AI workflows challenges traditional approaches to model interpretability and auditability.

We will discuss how we explore practical patterns for capturing and surfacing explanations of system behavior at the level of decisions, tools, and workflow graphs; designing robust traceability via fine-grained logging, data and model lineage, and event-based observability; enforcing reproducibility through configuration management, dataset versioning, and deterministic execution where possible; and embedding accountability with human-in-the-loop checkpoints, governance policies, and clear responsibility assignment. Realistic scenarios—such as autonomous data analysis pipelines, decision-support agents, and workflow orchestrators.

By the end of the talk, attendees will be updated with our research programme that is aimed at providing a conceptual framework and a set of concrete design principles for building autonomous AI workflows that are not only powerful and adaptive, but also inspectable, debuggable, and governable in real-world organizational contexts.

Sander Klous

Prof.dr. Sander Klous
Professor in AI and Audit
University of Amsterdam

Sander Klous is Professor in AI and Audit at the University of Amsterdam. He is Partner at KPMG, responsible for data & analytics related services with a focus on responsible AI. Sander is specialized in value creation with data ecosystems, where multiple organizations work together to offer joined solutions in so-called Data Spaces, e.g., to improve patient journeys in healthcare, to optimize grid usage to facilitate the energy transition or to create policies for broad prosperity in city development. Sander has a background in High-Energy physics and contributed to several projects at CERN. He was part of the ATLAS collaboration that discovered the Higgs-boson in 2012, leading to the Nobel prize in 2013.

Use cases: Norm Engineering in law improvement, government execution, operational process compliance

In this section, Geert Rensen, founder Be Informed, will discuss practical examples that demonstrate real-world applications and impact.

Geert Rensen - Be Informed

Geert Rensen
Chief Customer Officer
Be Informed

“We founded Be Informed to help organizations navigate complex regulations efficiently. By interpreting regulations in a way understandable to both computers and humans, we can now help organizations build compliant applications and ensure that the right regulations are applied at the right time. Over the past twenty years, we’ve collaborated with leading customers, governments, and academia globally to develop this technology.”

Geert, our Chief Customer Success Officer, has held roles including Director of Business Development, COO, Managing Director of US Operations, and Director of Marketing and Sales. Previously at Logica, he served as Account Manager, Business Unit Manager, and Sales Director Public Sector. Geert holds an MSc in Economics from Tilburg and Uppsala Universities.

Use cases: Norm Engineering in law improvement, government execution, operational process compliance

In this section, together with Geert Rensen, Ronald Heller will discuss practical examples that demonstrate real-world applications and impact.

Ronald Heller

Ronald Heller
Chief Product Officer
Be Informed

“I am highly motivated and creative, passionate about problem-solving and innovation. With a background in information and data analysis, ontology building, and business informatics, I have developed a keen eye for detail and a passion for designing solutions based on the core strengths of our platform and offerings that bring the best value for partners and customers. In this role, I translate the market’s wishes and needs into features on the roadmap.”

Ronald is Be Informed’s CPO and one of our Senior Solution Architects, involved with many of our projects, also in a QA fashion. Previously, Ronald worked for Le Blanc Advies and Salience as a Solution Architect and Ontologist.

State of the Art in Norm Engineering & AI

In this session, Maaike de Boer, senior scientist at TNO, presents how artificial intelligence can support the representation, interpretation, and application of legal norms. The presentation highlights current capabilities, limitations, and emerging research directions, with a focus on responsible and explainable use of AI in regulatory contexts.

Maaike de Boer

Maaike de Boer
Senior Data Scientist Hybrid AI
TNO

Maaike de Boer (PhD) is a senior Scientist at TNO within the Data Science department. Maaike has a background in AI with a focus on linguistics and information retrieval (Msc from Utrecht (2013), PhD from Radboud University (2017)). At TNO Maaike focuses on Hybrid AI – specifically combining language models and knowledge graphs / ontologies. She is involved in scientific projects, including European projects such as TrustLLM and Cyclopes, and Dutch and B2B projects such as the Growth Fund project Vaardig met Vaardigheden. Maaike is involved in Rules as Code from 2021 onwards, and together with the team she published several papers on this topic. Further details can be found through LinkedIn and Google Scholar. 

Wishes and possibilities regarding norm engineering

This is a round table discussion where experts will explore expectations, ambitions, and opportunities for norm engineering.
 
Vincent van Dijk

Vincent van Dijk
Senior Legal Analyst
Phaorius & Be Informed

Vincent van Dijk LL.M is a senior advisor on legal analysis and rule governance. He posseses almost 25 years of experience in the triangle composed of rules, processes and data. Especially in organizations with a challenge in implementing legislation in their business solutions. His legal background and extensive experience in IT projects with a rule driven approach help Vincent to bridge the gap between the business domain and implementation.

Getting a GRIP on Norm Engineering?

Norm Engineering requires a fundamental change in the way of working of governmental organizations and new knowledge and skills for a variety of governmental professionals (e.g. legal professionals, rule analysts, administrative professionals, business analysts, IT architects, policy makers and management). In the Netherlands, a consortium of universities has been working on open access courses to educate future professionals on new methodologies such as Norm Engineering. These courses also prove to be valuable for current governmental professionals and have been integrated in the governmental academy for digitalization. The courses have an interdisciplinary perspective, addressing legality, transparency, efficiency and citizen-oriented services. A modular approach allows for serving participants having different fields of expertise (legal, IT, public administration, communication) or different roles. In a related initiative, a survey amongst governmental organisations was done to get to an agenda for incrementally expanding the quantity and quality of available courses. As a result, an expert group formulated a framework of learning outcomes (named: GRIP) on methodologies for Norm Engineering and similar methodologies (using the European Qualification Framework) that supports educators in developing new programs and helps governmental organization in a systematic approach of the development of their professionals.

Ivar Timmer

Ivar Timmer
Lector in Legal Management & Technology
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences

Mr. dr. Ivar Timmer is Professor of Legal Management & Technology and Research Coordinator of the Legal Tech Lab, part of the Centre of Expertise Applied Artificial Intelligence. His work focuses on bridging law and technology, with particular expertise in legal tech, legal risk management, legal service design, and legal process management.

Case Study: Flemish Permitting

In this session, Stijn Vandeweyer will explain how the Flemish government will tackle its permitting challenges, using a combination of a digital regulatory database, a large language model, norm engineering, and a dynamic case management platform. 

 
Stijn Vandeweyer

Stijn Vandeweyer
Senior Director Strategy | Analytics & M&A | Government & Public Services Consulting Leader
Deloitte

Stijn’s primary focus has always been public sector for 20+ years. First as researcher at the Public Management Institute (University of Leuven), followed by being a trusted advisory for multiple clients of all Belgian government levels. Stijn has been managing many complex transformations in all policy domains and has a deep understanding of all trends and evolutions within government. As strategic advisor, he brings value to his clients in areas as strategic transformation, policy advisory, administrative simplification, better regulation, and spending reviews.

Het is a leading a team of 65+ resources working for both EU institutions and Belgian government clients in the areas of strategy and analytics. Furthermore he is bringing the strengths of all Deloitte offerings to his clients, as ITRG sector leader focusing on transport & mobility, climate, regional growth and infrastructure and Consulting G&PS leader. His international network is an important lever to exchange good practices with other geographies and clients.

Innovating the building permit request: enhancing AI quality through norm engineering – a use case in flanders

In this session, Stijn Vandeweyer & Sara Maes will explain how the Flemish government will tackle its permitting challenges, using a combination of a digital regulatory database, a large language model, norm engineering, and a dynamic case management platform. 

 

Sara Maes
Senior Manager Government & Public Sector
Deloitte

Sara Maes is Senior Manager in the Government & Public Sector strategy team of Deloitte. She has been working together with EU, national, regional and local authorities for more than 12 years. Sara focuses on strategy, business design and strategic transformation. Administrative simplification is at the heart of this. Sara is co-driving the transformational play of Deloitte on permits. She is the project manager of the team that participated and won the Vlaanderen Hackathon 2025 with a permitting AI solution.

Case Study: introduction of the Dutch Omgevingswet

This session explores the introduction of the Dutch Omgevingswet (Environment and Planning Act). This act is supported by the introduction of a nationwide digital ecosystem: the Digitaal Stelsel Omgevingswet(DSO), with the Omgevingsloket as its public one-stop shop. Together, they represent a systemic innovation in making environmental and planning law machine-readable, geo-referenced and executable. It is in is one of the world’s first large‑scale innovative implementations of Rules as Code (Norm engineering).

Central to this innovation is the full digitization of legal decisions using open standards. Legal texts are published through standardized models (e.g. STOP/TPOD) and translated into “applicable rules” (STTR) that power decision trees, automated permit checks and structured submissions (STAM). By linking legal rules to geo-coordinates, users can “click on the map” to see all applicable national and local regulations for a specific location. This integration of rule management and geoinformation creates a level information position for citizens, professionals and authorities alike, while enabling open API-based reuse and innovation.

The DSO replaces fragmented legacy portals with a single, government-wide platform, fostering deregulation through harmonization, transparency and shorter procedures. Crucially, continuous monitoring of portal use (millions of sessions annually) and targeted UX testing feed insights back into both digital development and regulatory drafting. This structured feedback loop helps bridge the gap between the policy domain and day-to-day implementation practice. It represents a decades long change in policy, ICT and government culture. Full implementation is forecasted for 2032.  In the presentation Martijn Ligthart will explore the many challenges of the DSO introduction and the exiting new possibilities that may lay ahead.

Further information and governance context are available through Home | Informatiepunt Leefomgevingand Home | Ontwikkelaarsportaal (in Dutch)

Martijn Ligthart

Martijn Ligthart
Program manager
Ministerie van BZK

Martijn Ligthart (born 1971, public administration) has been active in the civil service for more than a quarter of a century, mainly in the domain of the physical living environment, where he currently works as a programme manager. He was present at the inception of the Omgevingswet and the Digital System for the Environment and Planning Act and has promoted the introduction of the Act and the DSO in many roles over the past years).

The Netherlands Chamber of Commerce KVK journey on becoming more agile in the implementation of legislation

This session covers the journey of the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce KVK, which began in 2023 to become more agile in the implementation of legislation. Topics that will be addressed include the challenges the organisation is facing, the vision, and the practical steps KVK is taking with the Data Atlas.

Matthijs ten Hoedt

Matthijs ten Hoedt
Product owner
The Netherlands Chamber of Commerce KVK

Matthijs ten Hoedt is product owner within the CDO office of KVK and is responsible for the development and implementation of the Data Atlas within KVK.

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