Thomas Voorter studied Slavic Linguistics at the University of Amsterdam, where he became interested in modes of knowledge production and transmission other than text alone. He shifted his focus to social and historical anthropology; and conducted fieldwork in Kyrgyzstan, where he studied forms of oral history and traditions. It was the time when societies had started to become permeated with internet technology and desktop publishing was becoming democratised. Influenced by the groundbreaking book Word, Sound and Image: The life of the Tamil Text and the lectures of Saskia Kersenboom, he started to explore ways in producing an interactive and multimedia driven ethnography. He acquired the technical skills to deliver his Master thesis Kyrgyz Heroes: Songs of Sanzhyra and Tales of Batyrlar on CD-ROM. Since then, his fascination for interactive and digital technologies has never ceased. In 2005, after working in the ICT industry for a couple of years, he started work at the International Institute for Asian Studies as Web Manager and later as Communication Coordinator.

Since 2016, Thomas has been involved in the Humanities Across Borders programme as web developer and communications advisor. After setting up the HaB repository, he wants to investigate further how this digital environment can support research and be used as a tool for instance - conversation, reflection and storytelling.