Hansken Community in real life: a successful first international Hansken.io Meeting

October 11 and 12, we experienced an important milestone for Hansken: the first international Hansken.io Community Meeting! During this two-day meeting at Bleyenberg in The Hague, we received our international Hansken partners in person. An important and interesting gathering where all those present got to know each other, shared knowledge and questions and thus got a colorful idea of the Hansken Community and all its angles.

Hansken.io vlaggen

Hansken Community in real life

The turnout and interest were high: a total of 78 attendees from 8 countries and from 16 different organizations visited the Hansken.io Meeting (.io = input/output). We welcomed among others the Dutch FIOD, Ministry of Internal and Kingdom Relations, NVWA, ILT, NLA, Dutch police, University of Applied Science Leiden, Norwegian NCIS, Suisse Customs and the Finish police. After many virtual Community moments, the main goal was to finally be able to look each other in the eyes and see who all work with Hansken. And of course to discuss the different perspectives, the questions that arise and to see where we can help each other.

360 degree program: multiple Hansken angles

We all work with Hansken from many different perspectives. For example, we have the users who conduct case investigations with Hansken, digital experts who support the digital components of an investigation, the operators who are responsible for the system on premise and of course the developers who are continuously working on the further development of the Hansken software. Considering all these different groups were represented at the meeting, multiple subjects were presented:

  • The development of the Hansken Community and the launch of a new Hansken Portal. A place where everyone who works with Hansken can find each other, share knowledge, ask questions, find answers and keep an eye on all new developments.
  • Presentation of new features and status regarding the new Hansken user interface (HUIB).
  • The Hansken Academic Network - on collaboration with science.
  • The Hansken Software Development Kit with which new plugins can be developed.
  • Attention to AI models in Hansken - a presentation plus a demo with AI in Hansken and concluding a joint brainstorm about AI that resulted in great ideas.
  • And a general update on where we stand with Hansken and what is now being worked on.

After a closing lunch on the roof terrace of Bleyenberg on Wednesday the 12th, we continued the afternoon with more than 20 participants at the NFI where three more in-depth workshops were scheduled: Hansken workshop for operators, scripting Python API’s and installing Hansken in containers.

'Partner Pitches' by all attendees...

And not only the NFI-team had been working on the program, all attending organizations also prepared an introduction. These 'Partner Pitches' instantly gave an insight in the way everyone works with Hansken, of their successes and what  challenges they experience. Everyone approached this introduction in a very personal way, which created a colorful image of the Hansken Community. 

...and also an introduction on a personal level

In addition to conversations about working with Hansken, there was also time to get to know each other on a more personal level. During nice drinks on Bleyenberg's roof terrace and a nice dinner, we celebrated Hansken's 10th birthday and learned more about each other's backgrounds. 

The start of a tradition

The meeting was quite the kick-start we had in mind. From here on, we will keep in touch with each other about developments and wishes for Hansken. The Hansken Community Portal has many new members who are already actively using the available information. We are planning on actions to motivate and stimulate this even more.

We would very much like to turn this Hansken.io Meeting into an annual event. The aim is to rotate and visit a different Hansken partner every year. For 2023 we have plans to travel to NCIS Norway where we can organize the meeting together with NCIS and the NTNU (Norwegian University). Of course, we will inform you when we have a plan for next year.

For this year we are working on our presence at the Dex-XL 8/9 November and looking at the Hansken hackathon at the end of November at the HSD Campus in The Hague. More info will follow.

Great new things are coming, so to be continued!