Marco Maas

Marco Maas is a seasoned professional in media innovations with a diverse background spanning across various prestigious organizations and projects.

Having initially built the online department at NDR as a bridge between technology and editorial teams, he then spearheaded the development and management of the election offerings for ARD and ZDF, followed by founding Datafreunde GmbH and the data journalism label OpenDataCity.

His expertise in data projects has garnered multiple awards, including the Grimme-Online-Award and several nominations, along with 5 LEAD-Awards, through collaborations with reputable publications like Zeit Online, Spiegel, Süddeutsche Zeitung, and taz.

Transitioning into innovations journalism since 2014, Marco has been actively involved as a digitalization consultant focusing on Internet of Things, Voice technologies, Alexa, and Google Assistant.

Over the past 3 years, he has dedicated efforts towards professionalization by developing sales processes, implementing OKRs, and establishing reproducible procedures.

Known for his insightful speaking engagements, Marco is a prominent speaker on SmartHome, new storytelling formats, Internet of Things, data journalism, and sensor journalism, including a TED-Talk.

Currently, his consultancy extends to advising numerous radio stations on digitalization strategies, participating in working groups at Google for the Assistant, serving on the board of the HAW-Studiengang for Digital Communication, and acting as one of the editors of Vocer.

Marco Maas pursued his education at Hamburg University Of Applied Sciences and has held key positions such as Chief Executive Officer Founder at Datenfreunde, Beiratsmitglied at Hamburg Media School, Geschäftsführer at Opendatacity, Unternehmensinhaber at Venture Media, Leitung Medienservice and Redakteur at Marketing Für Deutschland, and roles as Autor, Reporter, and Realisator at Ndr.