Rijkswaterstaat received an award in the category Most Innovative Ecosystem, a powerful recognition of the digital transformation that the organization has undertaken in recent years.

Innovation as a Joint Task

CIO Ron Kolkman accepted the award on behalf of the Rijkswaterstaat team. Under Rons leadership, Rijkswaterstaat has collaborated with various market parties to convert data in asset management into tangible value for society, said jury chairman Eric Wesselman during the award ceremony.

The award underscores the importance of collaboration with market parties in the digital transformation of our infrastructure. Where we were once primarily seen as a manager of concrete and steel, the focus is now increasingly on the data that the physical assets generate.

From Infrastructure to Intelligence

In a powerful pitch to the jury and audience, Rijkswaterstaat painted a picture of infrastructure in transition. The afternoon pitch was given by Tjeerd de Jong, program manager of the Data-Driven Asset Management (DGAM) program.

When I say Rijkswaterstaat, you think of asphalt, bridges, locks. Of concrete, steel, water. But today I stand here with a different message: our greatest value lies not in what you see. But in the invisible data that assets generate. Data is the new concrete. And that changes everything, echoed from the podium.

Tjeerd de Jong responded enthusiastically to the recognition: I am incredibly proud that Rijkswaterstaats collaboration with contractors to work more data-driven has been awarded. It is a confirmation of the hard work and innovative strength of all colleagues and partners who are building this ecosystem.

The pitch underscores that we are gradually ensuring that hundreds of assets will function as sensors: bridges that tell when they are becoming fatigued, locks that indicate when maintenance is needed, roads that report their own wear. These data streams come together in a central platform that signals risks before they become visible and predicts when maintenance is needed.

Building a Digital Ecosystem

The performance of Rijkswaterstaat cannot be seen separately from the collaboration with contractors, educational institutions, IT parties, and internal experts. Together we are building a digital ecosystem where models, algorithms, and data are just as important as asphalt and concrete. We are no longer an infra-organization that also uses data, was emphasized during the pitch, but a data organization that manages the infrastructure of the Netherlands. A vision that is future-oriented and in which anticipating becomes more important than reacting.

Looking Ahead: Towards a Self-Learning Network

With an eye on 2028, we are working towards an infrastructure that not only reacts but learns. Where digital twins reflect real-time data to physical objects. Where waste is prevented, safety increases, and CO₂ emissions decrease thanks to smart maintenance.

The award is not the endpoint but a waypoint in a journey that has only just begun. We are still building, concluded the pitch, but no longer only in concrete and steel. We build in models, data, algorithms. Because only then can we prepare our infrastructure for the future.