INNOVATION · STRATEGY · GOVERNANCE
Bertrik Berfelo
I help organisations choose, organise and scale up technological innovation responsibly.
Business professional with experience in education, research, governance, and oversight. I connect subject matter to ownership, funding, and implementation, while carefully weighing risks and public value. My areas of specialization include XR, serious gaming, esports, and exergaming.
WHAT I DO
From direction to delivery and lasting continuity
Strategic advice and innovation governance
Which innovation delivers enough to be worth pursuing, and what does it take to organise it responsibly? I help organisations answer that question before serious money and time go into it. The hard parts are rarely technical. They sit in ownership, in maintenance, and in the question of who is expected to act next.
Project and programme leadership
An ambition is not yet an assignment. I turn it into a plan people can work with: who does what, by when, and on what budget. After that I steer on progress and money, and keep the collaboration workable. Including when things go wrong.
Educational technology and research
XR, serious gaming, esports and exergaming are my field. I look at what this kind of technology adds to learning, training or taking part. Through applied research and user feedback I test what works and which educational, technical and organisational conditions are needed.
SELECTED PROJECTS
Gaming & Esports: The new strength of Gelderland
Programme leadership in a public-private network
At the start of 2023 I took over a multi-year regional innovation programme in Gelderland, as the third project manager in a row. Staff changes and delays had pulled it out of shape. I brought the content, the finances and the contributions of nearly forty partners back together, and wrote the interim and final accountability reports.
Bio Game Club: Gaming and social participation
Applied research into participation and belonging
As lead researcher I look at what gaming together does for children and young people with a disability. Do they make more contact, gain confidence, take part more often? What we find goes back to practice and to partners in education, sport and care.
Npuls: from pilot to lasting practice
Project Management for Educational Technologies and Long-term Sustainability
In my role as an XR regional ambassador, I engaged with institutions across vocational (mbo), higher professional (hbo), and university (wo) education regarding a common challenge: how to move beyond a successful pilot. Since October 2026, I have been working on this as a project manager at Npuls Educational Resources (Npuls Onderwijsmiddelen). I lead projects focused on educational technologies and their implementation and long-term sustainability—covering not only XR, but also AI and other educational technologies. The goal: to ensure that outcomes do not remain confined to a pilot phase, but are instead structurally embedded within the educational system.
ABOUT ME
I work as a strategic advisor, project manager, and researcher at the intersection of education, innovation, and technology. In addition, I serve in a supervisory role. My core strength lies in bringing together people with widely divergent interests and guiding them toward a decision that everyone can move forward with. Drawing on my experience with XR, serious gaming, and esports, I help organizations implement innovation in a responsible manner and embed it for the long term.