From Information to Interaction

About 20 participants, including system builders, technology suppliers, and representatives from Rijkswaterstaat, gathered in Delft, at the office of the IT organization of Rijkswaterstaat. To start the day inspiringly and to have the work of Rijkswaterstaat well in mind, the DigiTour began with a visit to the Security Operations Center. The program continued with pitches in which the parties presented their ideas and solutions regarding the Case Spooldersluis: the object that the group visited last February and worked on a case in the interim that addressed reducing the Total Cost of Ownership and Technological Footprint.

Systems Thinking and Creativity Hand in Hand

The ideas and solutions presented were clustered by the Rijkswaterstaat team, and the participants went to work in mixed teams based on this; what would they really dare to advise us? Why this idea works and what we need to do now to start with it. The approach stimulated movement, both literally and figuratively, and provided space for substantive deepening and spontaneous creativity. After lunch, in the 2^nd round, the imagination was sharpened again. Participants were given the space to think from a world without limitations. What could be different then? What preferences does the market really have?

Subsequently, a perspective shift was made by ranking the harvest with green (yes, do it!), orange (interesting, but...) and red (no, too wild!) cards. This exercise resulted in a nice set of concrete actions. The energy was palpable: the market wants to contribute, think along, and work together with Rijkswaterstaat in realizing more work, at lower costs, and with more effect.

Deepening, Trust, and Connection

The DigiTour once again confirmed that ownership, space for creativity, and collaboration based on openness and trust are essential for accelerating IA innovation. Participants left with new insights, valuable connections, and the realization that we can work together as one team in making our infrastructure future-proof.

‘This DigiTour shows that partnership and working together on solutions is the key to innovation within Rijkswaterstaat and our partners. By staying in motion, both literally and figuratively, we create the connection needed to tackle todays and tomorrows challenges.’ - Ron Kolkman, Chief Information Officer Rijkswaterstaat

‘It is super useful and constructive to be here together. During such a tour, you really notice how complex and challenging the IA task is. It strengthens our collaboration and helps us find better solutions together.’ - Gerton Dekkers, Vice President / Division Manager Process Automation, ABB b.v.

As one of the participants beautifully put it: ‘The way we learned to understand each others perspectives and truly connect ideas makes this no ordinary meeting: it is the beginning of a different way of collaborating.’

Rijkswaterstaat looks back on this day with pride and continues enthusiastically with the follow-up. Read here the previous article: DigiTour proves to be a success again: behind the scenes at Rijkswaterstaat with partners from industrial automation.