Joanna van der Merwe is the Senior Staff Officer Specialist AI and Lead Trend Analyst at the Land Warfare Centre of the Netherlands Army. She began her work for the Dutch army as an intern exploring Big Data and its impact on the battlefield. She has an MA in International Relations Global Conflict in the Modern era.

In collaboration with the Land Warfare Centre she wrote her thesis on Artificial Intelligence and Relative Combat Power. She was previously the Manager of Innovation, Strategy and Policy at Leiden University where she lead a team of 15 portfolio holders focused on innovation and digital transformation. As a part of this work she established the first interdisciplinary team focused on Data Responsibility and established and lead the AI Strategy working group focused on implementing AI solutions at all levels of the organisation.

Alongside this, Joanna is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in the Transatlantic Defence and Security team.