P2: L., more F not really PM
In terms of tooling, what would really help us is better network mapping and clearer overviews of the ecosystem — which companies are there, how long have they been around, what phase are they in. I often get asked what this region is better at than others, or what the top ten fast growers are, and every time it costs us time to dig that out. We know the sector well by now, but making that visible to others — or to people who are new — is still hard.
P3: L., not really PM
In terms of tooling, we don’t have a proper CRM yet — just Excel overviews. With only 2.2 FTE, there’s a real vulnerability: if someone drops out, how do you pass on what they know? What we’d ultimately like is a login environment on our Techles website where teachers can download lesson materials but also share their own projects with each other — so that a real community of teachers develops and they start learning from each other. Because we provide the facilities, but we are not teachers ourselves. There are a huge number of follow-up actions involved, and a lot of that could probably be automated with a proper CRM system. We don’t have one, so it’s either in your head or on a list somewhere. The same goes for information management more broadly. Teams has become a jungle — files everywhere, channels nobody can find anymore, and in the end people go back to emailing. Bringing some order to that would benefit everyone. It is on our wish list, but not something we are going to tackle right now.
P4: L., more F
In terms of documentation and visibility, we go well beyond Excel sheets and heads. We produce a programme report every year with photos, figures on planned versus actual scale-ups, visitor numbers, student involvement, and an overview of all new innovations. We also make a scale-up map showing where all those installations are across the Netherlands — and often the people we speak to don’t even know they’re already doing all those things. We share infographics of our partner network, our targets, research collaborations, knowledge sessions — all of that goes out to partners. Making that visible is important to us.
P5: S., PM RWS
On the question of what kind of platform or tool could add value: from a Rijkswaterstaat perspective we already have something organised internally, but from my role at TKI Delta Technologie I’m genuinely curious about tools that can support collaboration between different organisations. What I notice is that there are many collaboration networks out there — Bouwcampus, Next Generation Infrastructure, Topsector Bouw en Infrastructuur — and it would be really valuable if you could see what’s being worked on across all of those programmes side by side and exchange between them. That’s where I think there’s a real opportunity. On ecosystem analytics specifically — being able to type in a topic and find out which companies or parties could play a role there — we actually did a pilot with something called the Innovatiespotter, which does exactly that. That might be worth looking into for what you’re building.
P6: M., PM Novum
The PM needs tooling that does three things: proactively prepare information without constantly burdening people (filled as automatically as possible), flag in a timely manner when projects are stalling or going off track, and provide decision-makers at various levels with the right information at the right moment. A specific unmet need is a searchable knowledge database of lessons learned, so that when starting new projects he can quickly retrieve what has been done before. What he explicitly does not want is a system that serves only him — tooling must also work well for team members, so that they actually use it and the information remains reliable.