1

M A G A Z I N E F R O M D I G I T A L D E L T A D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5

AND FURTHER : P. 13 LUC KOHSIEK: “HOW WILL THE WORLD CHANGE IN THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS?”P. 21 NICK VAN DE GIESEN: “WE ULTIMATELY WANT THE INITIATIVE TO CREATE A MARKET”

Joost de Haan, development manager of Physical Digital Delta about creating Digital Delta:

Raymond Feron, programme directorfor Digital Delta:

“A European scenario is imaginable for Digital Delta”

Michiel van Haersma Buma, chair of the

Delfland Water Board:

“Responding to individual and general

demands”

Stefan Kuks, chair of the Vechtstromen Water Board:

“Innovative developments

don’t have to be social returns”

“The point is to draw on each other’s strengths”

32

Digital Delta is a unique collaboration that aims to implement smarter water management. Partners include Rijkswaterstaat (the Dutch Department of Waterways and Public Works), Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Deltares, IBM, and the Delfland Water Board. Together, they examine how more effective ways of sharing information

and the smart re-use of IT applications and data could improve water management in the Netherlands and, at the same time, enhance the economic position of the Dutch water industry internationally.

Functional description of Digital Delta.

The interviews were conducted in April, May, and June 2015.

The client is the Delfland Water Board. © Hotze Zijlstra 2015

This description aims to provide the stakeholders with a better understanding of what Digital

Delta stands for and how it works, with the aim of maintaining and

enhancing support. This document was drafted for administrators, IT

managers, and business users. The technical capabilities have been

translated into practical advantages and opportunities, and vice versa. This document also addresses the

potential challenges based on interviews and case studies.

3

54

45

46Joost de Haan

35

3832

5

Content

Michiel van Haersma Buma

50

40Stefan Kuks

Functional water dataSuccessful initiative 11 Hans Oosters: ‘Manageable and comprehensible’

Shared interests 15 Ron Thiemann: ‘Dare to share’

Public-private cooperation 18 Djeevan Schiferli: ‘Creating an information platform’

Catalogue functionality 25 Luc Kohsiek: ‘Common data layer’

Standardisation 30 Prof. dr. Nick van de Giesen: ‘An integrated view’

32 Boris Everwijn: ‘Data becomes information’

Link 35 Raymond Feron: ’From individual to generic’

Laan van de Leefomgeving 40 Stefan Kuks: ‘Innovating and exporting’

Future incentives 45 Stef Hummel: ‘Logical next steps’

46 Joost de Haan: ‘Not a paper initiative’

Interview: Michiel van Haersma Buma

68

12

16

22

28

34

38

42

50

16

Raymond Feron

30Nick van de Giesen

Stef HummelColofon

Digit is published by Digital Data.

Circulation: 100 stuks

Conceptand design:Waanzinnig, Delft

Editorial:Hotze Zijlstra

Corrector:Crystal Clear Translations

Photography:Vincent Basler

Print:Telstar Media Pijnacker

www.digitaldelta.nu

Water management is becoming increasingly important in the Netherlands. Population growth, climate change, and increasing demands placed on infrastructure call for a smart and standardised approach. Information technology plays an important role in this.

Digital Delta is making systems and source data provided by water managers widely accessible. This information exchange makes it possible to anticipate acute and structural changes to our water management more quickly and more effectively. Knowledge institutes, governments, and companies can use the available information to develop and implement new models for better and smarter water management.

Digital Delta is an excellent example of a fruitful public-private partnership that can lead to considerable savings for a relatively small investment.

‘An exemplary joint IT project’

Functional waterdata

BY HOTZE ZIJLSTRA

6 7

98

Successful initiativeImproving the way we share knowledge and information can help water managers operate more efficiently and more effectively. Digital Delta not only helps manage costs, it also leads to greater industry transparency and innovation with relatively small investments in terms of energy, resources, and money.

DIGITAL DELTA WILL GIVE researchers,

the public sector, and the business com-

munity access to a wealth of information

that will help them develop new applica-

tions. Furthermore, the platform will allow

companies to move quickly and make

important decisions in times of crisis or

during large and complex projects.

‘Digital Delta is not a multimillion euro IT

project. It is a great incentive that will give

water boards, Rijkswaterstaat, and other

involved parties a huge boost for just a

few thousand euros a year,’ says Raymond

Feron, programme director at Digital

Delta and employed by Rijkswaterstaat. A

stakeholder analysis and a feasibility study

based on 120 interviews with local parties

found that readily accessible and sharable

data and applications could help the Dutch

knowledge sector grow and blossom. ‘It

could also help the private sector generate

new business and help the public sector

save considerable costs.’ In addition to

Rijkswaterstaat, Deltares, IBM, and the

Delfland Water Board were involved from

the start.

‘The government has struggled to im-

plement major IT projects in the past,’

says Nick van de Giesen of TU Delft.

‘Digital Delta is an excellent example of a

well-executed and well-planned process.

Huge strides have been made with relati-

vely small investments. We demonstrated

that ambitious, large-scale IT projects can

indeed be successful.’ Ron Thiemann, a

Deltares board member, agrees. ‘Digital

Delta will deliver big results. Because

it’s being implemented in phases, and

because the steering committee plays a

facilitating role, the process is extremely

transparent. The project has generated

broad support and will remain well within

its scope.’

Platform

Digital Delta is an open online platform

(also known as a matchmaking platform)

with accessible and standardised informa-

tion on water management. Water mana-

gers, knowledge institutes, government

organisations, citizens, and companies can

use this platform to obtain data, models,

algorithms, tools, and applications. Parties

interested in sharing water information

can link their own data to Digital Delta.

The platform’s catalogue function makes

it easy to search for information. This

information remains on the data owner’s

site, the platform simply directs users

to the source. Digital Delta shows users

whether information is available for free

or whether a payment is required.

‘We’re convinced that the concept of

findability, accessibility, and standardisa-

tion of data will work,’ says Stef Hummel,

8

>

10

“The challenge is to

determine where im-

provements can be

made through mini-

mising fertilisation,

industrial pollution,

and pharmaceutical

residues in waste

water.”

software architect at Deltares. ‘An au-

thentication procedure determines who

has access to the information. This is the

perfect place to develop tools that can

help you get started with this information.

A platform like Digital Delta can be extre-

mely advantageous to the Netherlands.

Standardising information and making it

widely accessible through web services is

an important global development. That’s

one thing that makes this initiative so

relevant.’

Distinctive

‘This is a textbook example of digitisa-

tion: the combination of social, mobile,

analytics and cloud is a development that

has taken businesses and industries by

storm,’ says former IBM visionary Djeevan

Schiferli, who has been involved in Digital

Delta from the start. ‘It’s also a product

we’re proud of in the Netherlands: a bold

and distinctive story with a model and phi-

losophy that can be scaled up and rolled

out worldwide.’

According to Schiferli, the initiative has

more potential than is currently being

pursued. He believes the initiative should

attract more specialised parties from the

SME sector. ‘These services should be

developed for water managers,’ he says.

This public-private interaction is essential,

given shrinking political budgets and wa-

ter management costs that are growing by

the billion. ‘SMEs and interested starters

in the knowledge sector have expressed

an interest in doing truly innovative things

if they can gain access operational data.

Make this data available and make IT servi-

ces reusable.’

Despite IBM being one of the initiators,

Digital Delta does not include a vendor

lock-in that would make customers de-

pendent on one or more specific provi-

ders or suppliers. On the contrary, open

standards and connections make it easy

to switch from one provider to another.

‘Third parties can use their applications to

build on the work of others. This creates

the flexibility and the transparency that

the government requires,’ says Nick van de

Giesen of TU Delft.

Transition period

The Digital Delta programme entered the

operational phase in early 2015. The initia-

tive is currently in a transition period to

determine further goals, roles, standards,

project responsibilities, and efforts. The

platform is expected to be fully operatio-

nal sometime next year.

‘In terms of water safety, the main

challenge is implementing the

tasks arising from the new Deltaplan

standards. These apply to all primary

flood defences along the coast and

rivers. This is something the water

boards are currently working hard on.

In terms of water quantity, city water

is a very relevant theme, in particular

the fact that our urban infrastructure

cannot cope with flooding caused

by precipitation problems. In terms

of water quality, the challenge is

to determine where improvements

can be made through minimising

fertilisation, industrial pollution, and

pharmaceutical residues in waste

water. For waste water, recycling

and energy recovery are important

themes,’ Oosters explains.

‘The next question is how to address

these challenges. We’re thinking in

terms of smarter, more innovative

solutions based on the right know-

ledge and information. For example:

you can dredge according to a fixed

timetable, but you can also do it ba-

sed on urgency. The right informati-

on can revolutionise things. Another

development is the 3Di system,

which gives you a better overview

of water flows, water stagnation,

and where we can prevent problems

using small-scale solutions instead

of major projects. Again: the know-

ledge component is key.’

Overwhelmed

‘The Association of Water Boards,

and indeed my own organisation,

are hungry for better methods

for collecting, standardising, and

publishing information,’ says

Oosters. ‘We’re being overwhelmed

from various angles about this issue.

Setting up a centralised solution may

seem obvious, but it’s expensive and

involves a complex set of data and

systems, not to mention the issue

of information security. All of this

helps to explain the administrative

aversion to what are essentially

good ideas. Nothing will change

until uniformity and standardisation

become mandatory, and even then

we’d prefer to put in the least amount

of effort to meet the requirements

because, quite simply, our priorities

lie elsewhere,’ he explains.

‘Digital Delta may very well solve

some of these challenges, but it

needs to be more explicit in its

objectives. People want clear use

cases. The project should also be

more explicit about the time, money,

and energy it requires and how it

plans to align with other information-

sharing initiatives.’

“It’s something we’re proud of in the Netherlands, a bold and distinctive story”

S U CC E S F U L I N I T I AT I V E

Hans Oosters is chair of the Schieland and Krimpenerwaard Water

Board and a board member of the Association of Water Boards. In

this dual role, he represents and unites social and institutional

interests. ‘Water safety, water quantity, water quality, and waste

water are some of the major challenges that water managers will face

in the near future,’ he says.

H A N S O O S T E R S

‘Manageable and comprehensible’

>

11

1312

t THE WATER BOARDS ARE the primary

stakeholders. ‘With four major rivers, the

Netherlands is in fact one big delta,’ says

Stefan Kuks, chair of the Vechtstromen

Water Board and member of the Associ-

ation of Water Boards. ‘Alluvion towards

the sea is happening near the eastern

border. We tried to stop this, but the de-

velopments tracked since the nineties are

showing a very different scenario. We’ve

switched from trying to reroute the water

to accommodating it, or making room for

it if necessary. This is where digitisation

comes in. We’re starting to use more

models and systems that can predict and

visualise the flow of water,’ he explains.

‘These systems are generating an incre-

asing amount of fundamental data on, for

example, topographical differences and

what the water system looks like above

and below ground. Weather forecasts also

help us anticipate these developments.

Vechtstromen is located in a hilly area and

uses weirs to keep the water at bay. These

weirs can be set slightly lower if heavy

rain is forecast. The water flows out of the

storage areas, which can be used to collect

rainwater instead,’ he says.

As all of this has an effect on the borde-

ring water authorities, Kuks believes they

should be able to access each other’s

systems. ‘Digital innovations are making

this much easier. We share a border with

Germany, which means we need to coor-

dinate things accordingly. In August 2010,

for example, there was a huge spike in ra-

infall which we simply couldn’t cope with.

Germany experienced the same thing,

which triggered a flash flood in our area.

One of the lessons we learned was that we

needed to align our systems. Digital Delta

could help with this on a large and on a

small scale.’

Long term

Water managers are strongly focused on

the long term. ‘This is why it’s so impor-

tant to work towards a clear vision of the

future,’ says Luc Kohsiek, chair of the Hol-

lands Noorderkwartier Water Board. ‘How

will the world change in the next twenty

years? What trends and developments

can we expect? As a leading maritime

nation, where are we going and how are

we getting there? Digital Delta should be

viewed as a roadmap in this perspective.

Open data is perfectly in line with the go-

vernment’s long-term policy. Making data

sources more accessible makes it easier

for governments and private parties to

develop applications that increase speed

Shared interestsThe development of the Digital Delta platform was preceded by an in-depth research programme. Governments, knowledge institutes, and private parties concluded that the project will contribute to more effective, efficient, and affordable water management in the Netherlands with a better decision-making policy.

1312

>

1514

and reduce costs.’ According to Kohsiek,

the real question is whether everyone is

convinced of this necessity. ‘If you want to

encourage people to embrace new trends,

the first step is getting them to release

data.’

The Gateway Review of Digital Delta pu-

blished on 12 September 2014 made a po-

sitive assessment in this respect: improved

accessibility, exchange, and reuse will lead

to more effective and efficient advantages

for water management authorities. But,

to some, a cooperation like this may seem

threatening. ‘Other people will be able to

see when something’s gone wrong at your

end,’ says Raymond Ferron of Rijkswater-

staat. ‘But I still think data sharing brings

more advantages than disadvantages. It

will give us access to the same data when

things go wrong.’

Precipitation patterns

Water transcends the boundaries of its

management areas, which makes infor-

mation sharing so important, according

to Deltares board member Ron Thiemann.

This is perfectly illustrated in areas with

high rainfall. ‘Water managers need to

know water flow and water level pre-

dictions in border areas in order to take

adequate measures.’

Stefan Kuks offers a more practical

example. His water board wanted to teach

farmers how to handle water scarcity and

water levels more effectively. Fifteen pilot

companies each tested two innovations.

‘For example, allowing effluent, purified

waste water, to enter the drainage system.

A similar innovation is climate-adaptive

drainage based on satellite information

and sensor technology. Generally spea-

king, this involves a self-thinking system

that runs on accurate data. Satellite

information could also be used as a means

of enforcement: land owners would be

expected to maintain the waterways and

would not be allowed to access or build

on the banks. Intelligent satellite observa-

tion would be much cheaper than having

people carry out manual inspections.

We’ve been developing this on a much

larger scale for some time now. From the

control room in this building, for example,

we use telemetry to see all reference

dates and control all weirs and locks in our

area,’ he explains. ‘All of this can be partly

automated. The same applies to pumps

and sewers,’ he adds. ‘All of these systems

are fed by information our field workers

enter on their iPads, which is linked to the

data in the local registry. As a result, the

geographical information is becoming

richer and more accurate.’

“How will the world change in the next twenty years?”

According to Hans Oosters, chair of the

Schieland and Krimpenerwaard Water

Board and member of the Association of

Water Boards, being able to anticipate ra-

infall patterns is an important application

[see text box on page 11].

Social

Digital Delta has an important added

value that transcends the interests of the

water boards: Dutch society and economy.

Djeevan Schiferli of IBM also points out a

potential threat. ‘We seem to be suffering

from the “dialectics of lead”. London was

the first to have gas lighting and the last

to have electricity. The Netherlands may

be known as water experts, but we’re

still managing that water with physical

structures like dikes and pumping stations.

That’s water management 1.0,’ he explains.

‘Despite a broadband infrastructure and

huge amounts of available data, we aren’t

using that data as quickly or efficiently

as possible. Entire industries are being

turned upside down by parties that find

innovative ways of applying data! The wa-

ter sector is no exception. It’s just a matter

of time. The sad thing is that we are more

than capable of becoming a world leader

in this respect.’

Shared challenges

It’s essential that all involved parties

express a willingness to share informa-

tion. ‘I can understand the resistance to

a certain extent,’ says Thiemann. ‘After

all, other people will be able to see when

something’s gone wrong at your end. But

fear is always a bad adviser. It paralyses

you and prevents you from taking the next

step. Greater transparency will help us

share individual challenges and solutions.

This is a great opportunity to make water

management even better.’

RO N T H I E M A N N

‘We receive a grant from the Ministry

of Economic Affairs to develop new

knowledge, but the majority of our

income comes from the market,’

he explains. ‘We carry out a lot of

knowledge-intensive and socially-re-

levant projects in the Netherlands and

abroad and have expressly chosen not

to compete with engineering firms

and contractors. In fact, in many cases

we act as their supplier,’ he adds.

‘We have a dare-to-share policy and

develop software based on open

sources instead of patents. Our goal

is to give projects and initiatives

the kick-start they need. Knowledge

development and social impact are our

top priorities and are also what makes

this work so interesting. Deltares was

founded just seven years ago, but we’-

ve built up an impressive international

reputation since then. We also use our

knowledge to create opportunities for

Dutch companies operating abroad.’

Goals

‘Deltares aims to develop knowledge

models and innovative solutions in

the aforementioned fields,’ Thiemann

goes on to explain. ‘To do so, it’s

important to have open access to the

data acquired by water managers. We

contribute directly to information

S H A R E D I N T E R E S T S

about water in the Netherlands and

want to make this information readily

accessible to everyone else via Digital

Delta. Collaborating on innovative

solutions for water managers in the

Netherlands and abroad is one of our

core activities,’ he explains. ‘We’ve

applied and enriched our knowledge

about the availability and use of data

from various managers in the Digital

Delta.

Making this knowledge and data

available to innovative companies

gives them the opportunity to de-

velop new products and services for

water managers in the Netherlands

and abroad. We can use this know-

ledge and experience to improve the

Netherlands’ export position. This

is a secondary goal Deltares hopes

to achieve through the Digital Delta

project.’

‘Dare to share’Deltares is an independent applied knowledge institute in the field

of water, soil, and infrastructure and collaborates with national

and international universities. Ron Thiemann is on the board of

directors.

“We also use

our knowledge to

create opportu-

nities for Dutch

companies opera-

ting abroad.”

>

17

Public-private cooperationDigital Delta distinguishes itself through open collaboration between Rijkswaterstaat, knowledge institutes, and private parties. Despite the pioneering work carried out by IBM, it is still very much regarded as a government project. Once the foundations have been laid, however, the project hopes to attract partners in the private sector.

>

1616

WHEN IBM JOINED Digital Delta, the

company was already busy carrying out

water management activities on behalf of

its clients. With With a view to generating

new market opportunities, the compa-

ny wanted to expand its knowledge by

conducting sector-specific research. ‘The

question was how to save the government

money while simultaneously improving

water management,’ says Schiferli. ‘We

initially planned to ask fifteen parties to

help us reduce water costs, but this turned

into sixty! With so many interested parties,

we soon realised that the project had real

potential at both national and internatio-

nal level. Apparently, this is what they’ve

been waiting for.’

There were approximately twenty-three

use cases, one of which could lead to a

40% reduction in costs if the sluices were

emptied according to the tides instead of

at fixed intervals. This would help to save

300,000 euros each year for something

that normally costs 700,000 euros. Ano-

ther case involved maintenance savings

of 10 to 15% by using satellite images to

analyse dikes. ‘This wasn’t happening at

the time because cost savings were not

being prioritised and the necessary data

wasn’t always available,’ Schiferli ex-

plains. ‘Some data owners were reluctant

to release their data and a large portion

1918

of the budgets were reserved for finding

data. Several organisations were doing the

exact same thing. We knew this could be

improved.’

Ultimately, five cases that had proven

successful were selected. According to the

research project, the government could

achieve annual savings of more than 20%

if researchers, IT experts, and specialised

entrepreneurs combined their knowledge

and strengths. ‘The idea is to combine

various initiatives within a collaborative

partnership and offer them as a unique

service.’

IBM’s proposal to develop an open plat-

form managed by public partners that

research institutes and corporate parties

could use to develop applications and

services was inspired by similar deve-

lopments by companies like Amazon and

Apple.

Creating a market

In the run-up to the operational phase,

it is relatively quiet on the private front.

Digital Delta is still being led by the water

boards that are already involved and Rijks-

waterstaat. ‘After a public-private launch,

the government has now taken the reins,’

explains Raymond Feron. ‘The research

preceding the roll-out phase found that

Digital Delta is really an information infra-

structure at its core. The follow-up phase,

however, is a hybrid collaboration.’

‘It started with a meeting with former

Director-General of I&M, Annemieke

Nijhof,’ he says. ‘I asked her what she

thought the biggest challenge was

and she said mounting water costs. At

the time, these were roughly seven

billion euros a year, but that figure

was expected to rise by one to two

billion each year. The conclusion was

that IT and smart data usage could

help resolve the issue,’ he explains.

‘We’ve demonstrated that good data

use can help achieve important

business objectives. We also expect

that a collaboration with the Dutch

water sector in both the business and

knowledge communities can help us

enter the global market.

It was never IBM’s goal to offer a

final solution for water problems.

The goal was to develop an easy and

accessible information platform,’

Schiferli says. ‘For decades, we’ve

managed the application server that

combines information and data from

different areas: traffic, energy, SCADA,

and back-end systems. In terms of

water, the idea was to make it easy

for experts to share and exchange

data and then use it to develop smart

solutions. In other words, they come

up with intelligent applications and

the system integrators provide the

integration and analysis software,

the cloud infrastructure, and access

to the global market. The concept

was successfully tested and we lear-

ned a lot. Now it’s time for parties in

the public sector to take the reins.’

Smart cities

‘IBM invested a lot of time, money,

and energy into launching this ini-

tiative in the Netherlands,’ Schiferli

continues. ‘It took a lot of effort, but

in the end we were successful. When

the project first started, many outsi-

ders were afraid of a lock-in, despite

our assurances of using open stan-

dards. Our goal was to demonstrate

that you could save at least 15% on

water management costs by using

the existing data effectively and by

‘Creating an information platform’Djeevan Schiferli was the Business Development Executive for Climate Change & Water Management at IBM until May 2014 and, in this capacity, was a leading advocate for Digital Delta.

DJ E E VA N S C H I F E R L I

“We achieved

what we set

out to achieve

within this com-

plex framework.”

P U B L I C- P R I VAT E CO O P E R AT I O N

>

>

helping SMEs and knowledge insti-

tutes develop innovations for public

use more quickly. That was what the

partners wanted,’ he explains.

‘We achieved what we set out to

achieve within this complex frame-

work. More importantly, the project

generated even more interest abroad

than it did in the Netherlands. In

2013, for example, we opened a

major conference in Las Vegas, our

consortium gave a presentation at an

international smart grid conference

in South Korea and Japan, we were

showcased at the UN e-Government

Summit, and we participated in

several international finals and won

various awards,’ he adds. ‘The project

also captured the attention of the in-

ternational press. The Chinese Yangt-

ze commissioner and a delegation

from South Australia were probably

the highlights – especially when the

latter described Digital Delta as the

most innovative initiative in their

two-week work visit.

The entire SME acceleration never

really gained ground within Digital

Delta. It would have been nice to du-

plicate some Dutch solutions in other

countries – Dutch water solutions as

a service.’

Shifting attention

‘Despite not being directly involved in

the implementation of Digital Delta,’

Schiferli adds, ‘IBM is making interna-

tional strides in the water business.

Earlier this year, I went to Baton

Rouge, Louisiana, to see a similar

initiative. They are extremely intere-

sted in creating new jobs by forming

partnerships with local knowledge

institutes and start-ups to develop

their own water app store.’

20 21

Rijkswaterstaat, water boards, knowledge

institutes, and research institutes will pri-

marily use Digital Delta to share informati-

on. Other parties, such as the aforementio-

ned SME sector, will probably use the data

to develop services aimed specifically at

water managers and other involved par-

ties. ‘We ultimately want the initiative to

create a market,’ says Nick van de Giesen

of TU Delft. ‘We want companies to use

the data for something interesting and

use the applications to create intelligent

services for water boards or pumping

station managers.’ Raymond Feron also

views this as a promising prospect. ‘The

water boards and Rijkswaterstaat are the

primary public clients in the water domain.

Digital Delta will help parties develop the

market solutions we buy more quickly and

more affordably.’

The biggest advantage is that people will

no longer have to choose between techno-

logies, since the data forms the basis. This

means that both data and applications

can be shared. Everyone will benefit from

things being easily findable and accessible.

More importantly, the lower tiers of diffe-

rent organisations will be able to utilise all

of the smart developments and insights.

Competition

According to Djeevan Schiferli, the gover-

nment will miss out on a good opportunity

if it fails to pursue the link with the private

market. ‘Soon, cost pressures will lead

to competition from commercial parties

abroad who will offer water manage-

ment as a service,’ he says. ‘We need to

move away from grants and incremental

innovations; the rest of the world is simply

moving too fast.’ Luc Kohsiek, chair of the

Hollands Noorderkwartier Water Board, is

cautioning the government not to compete

with the private sector. ‘Doing so would

deprive parties that already offer products

and services based on specific data sets of

their competitive edge.’

Feron shares this opinion. ‘The central

link should be as “thin” as possible so as

not to encroach on the solutions offered

by existing private parties,’ he says. ‘The

government should offer service buses

that communicate with and speak the

same language as those offered by various

companies, who are perfectly capable

of competing with one another. This is

something the private sector is willing to

enter into with caution. If the services start

to expand and lead to new services, a sort

of government App store will be created,

thereby turning the government into a

market player,’ he explains. ‘As a result, the

service will become too “thick” and private

parties will drop out.

A “thin” Digital Delta makes them more

likely to invest. The government has made

similar links in the past, so perhaps they

already have what we want and it’s just a

matter of making it available. ‘Again,’ he

adds, ‘developing the necessary applica-

tions is the job of stakeholder companies

and of commercial parties. Together, we

can agree on a suitable user licence. The

government would not have to submit

major application tenders and can instead

support processes using an app store

process.’

P U B L I C- P R I VAT E CO O P E R AT I O N

20

>

“We ultimately want the initiative to create a market”

20

2322

26

In order to achieve a win-win situation within the trinity of business, knowledge, and government sectors, a plat-form was required where applications could access and use the available data. The core of Digital Delta was initially formed by a catalogue that would make it easy to find information.

DIGITAL DELTA IS NOT A common

computer platform or a central storage

area for data. Instead of focusing on

collecting data, the added value lies in

offering an overview of available and

exchangeable data. ‘Identifying the source

is the most important step,’ explains Stef

Hummel, software architect at Deltares

and involved in Digital Delta as a mem-

ber of the architectural team. ‘A retrieval

service should make it possible to access

the requested data. Requests are linked

through, but everything is available in one

central web catalogue,’ he says. ‘If a water

manager needs information, for example,

he could search for “water level Zutphen”

to find an overview of relevant links where

this information can be found. This makes

Digital Delta an excellent search engi-

ne for water-related information. Third

parties in the business sector can use the

platform to promote their services.’

Catalogue functionality

>

2524

In addition to the overarching Digital

Delta project, lots of things are happening

on a smaller scale, such as information

exchange between water boards and with

the public. Stefan Kuks created a paper

atlas with detailed information that could

be published on a website for stakehol-

ders and companies. ‘People could zoom

in on a specific area and view different

map layers. This information, which could

be shared via Digital Delta, would give

municipalities and other parties the op-

portunity to optimise chains and manage-

ment processes or focus on other needs.’

Additionally, the Waterschapshuis – the

management and implementation organi-

sation for information and communication

technology for twenty-three water boards

– may be interested in making static water

board data available at a centralised level.

New stakeholders

‘The initiative is considering incorporating

data flows from other relevant institutes,

like KNMI and RIVM, to enhance the safety

and quality of water,’ says Hummel. ‘The

opposite is also possible. This would mean

a subset of our data would by published

on the KNMI portal. Either way, sharing

data with each other remains an interes-

ting option. The initiative data.overheid.

nl could also be involved in Digital Delta,’

he adds.

‘We want to aggregate all of this informati-

on. Digital Delta hopes to provide a clear

overview of the information available in

various catalogues. Some stakeholders

only make certain information available at

an internal level. If this is to be published

via Digital Delta, that information should

first be compiled and then standardised.

Although Digital Delta has no immediate

plans to become a 24/7 data supplier, this

may be possible in the long term.’

Intelligence

Digital Delta should not be confused with

the open data initiative implemented by

the government, which aims to make as

much information as possible available

to the public. This data may be accessible,

but it is not always easy to find or useable.

‘While the government may be interested

in open data,’ explains Raymond Feron,

‘entire databases often remain hidden

inside governmental walls because certain

aspects cannot be publicised because

they involve financial or sensitive informa-

tion or because the data has not yet been

reviewed. There needs to be a certain

level of intelligence involved in the careful

publication of data. We ultimately hope

to create a database that will be largely

accessible to everyone and that will also

allow us to keep certain aspects restricted

to a select group of authorised users. In

other words, you want to be able to make

things easily accessible when necessary.

Should certain information need to remain

confidential, there needs to be a regulati-

on in place to control this,’ he says.

‘Not all information from the water boards

and Rijkswaterstaat is available to others,’

adds Stef Hummel. ‘But if the informa-

tion from this department, the water

boards, and other parties were open and

accessible, Digital Delta would be able to

make it available and findable in a central

environment. Users can see everything in

Digital Delta.’

Single sign-on

Another aspect of the central Digital Delta

platform is making data available through

a single sign-on, which would give authori-

sed users access to all datasets. ‘We plan

to experiment with this later this year,’

says Hummel. ‘We’re collaborating with

parties like TU Delft, which has set up joint

data initiatives with other universities and

has experience with single sign-on. It’s all

about findability, accessibility, and sca-

lability with a single sign-on for multiple

sources in the near future.’

‘In my positions with STOWA and 3Di,

I have a vested interest in the suc-

cess of Digital Delta. Being able to

find and apply the right water data is

crucial for both STOWA and 3Di.’

Same quality

‘One major advantage is that all

water boards will be able to base

their decisions on the same quality

of data. If the fundamental data is

clear and comparable, we’ll be better

equipped to carry out tasks and

learn from each other,’ he explains.

‘Another aspect is the collaboration

between neighbouring water

boards. After all, water knows

no borders and water managers

want to have accurate information.

Additionally, water boards have to

deal with the main water supply

managed by Rijkswaterstaat,’ he

adds. ‘Data on this water can

also be exchanged more easily

via Digital Delta. While this is

happening to some extent already,

it’s really just from point to point.

A common data layer will be

extremely advantageous.

Digital Delta can be considered

a success when a data platform is

developed that everyone can use

and add to. It may seem obvious, but

this is the only way to make sure it

works for everyone. Failure in my

opinion would be if people were to

perceive it as a burden that does not

lead to concrete benefits for a water

manager.’

Luc Kohsiek holds several positions in the water sector. He is chair of the Hollands Noorderkwartier Water Board, president of the Foundation for Applied Water Research (STOWA), a member of the Kernteam Watertech-nologie Topsector Water (core team for water technology in the water top sector), and is a driving force behind using 3Di for dynamic water modelling together with Michiel van Haersma Buma of the Delfland Water Board.

C ATA LO G U E F U N C T I O N A L I T Y

‘Common data layer’

25

“‘It’s all about findability, accessibility, and scalability”

L U C KO H S I E K

>

“One major advan-

tage is that all

water boards will

be able to base

their decisions

on the same

quality of data.”

2726

28

data models. ‘Ideally, data suppliers will

offer up this information themselves in a

predetermined format, but this standard

should also incorporate the needs and

wishes of all involved parties. A positive

assessment by STOWA is another impor-

tant indicator for success,’ he adds. ‘The

water boards have to be convinced of the

fact that standardisation within Digital

Delta is a meaningful long-term invest-

ment. The right arguments can generate

more support, especially if all involved

parties see the benefits.’

Aquo standard

To develop these data standards, Digital

Delta has been in talks with Informatie-

huis Water (IHW), a collaboration between

all twenty-three Dutch water boards, the

provinces, and Rijkswaterstaat. These

talks should result in clear information

about water management. The IHW’s task

tTHE GOVERNMENT’S open data includes

some 6,000 sources, many of which are

difficult to access and use. This threshold

can be lowered by standardising the

available data. The entered data can then

be used by various parties for various

purposes. ‘It’s quite difficult to make all

required data findable and exchangeable,’

explains Luc Kohsiek. ‘The quality of the

available information is sometimes un-

clear. What’s more, this information needs

to be processed by the user’s hardware

and software. These issues can be resol-

ved through standardisation.’

Kohsiek believes this can be done with

the involvement of participating stakehol-

ders. One thing he does object to is overly

standardised software and overly rigid

StandardisationSemantic and technical standardisation will not only make it easier for companies to develop water management applications, it will also make it easier for web services to interact without the need for pricey interfaces. This representation also requires standardi-sed practices. Whilst this is being managed by the government, the market is also being actively involved.

29

>

29

“All data from the water boards will be suitable

for aggregation”

Stef Hummel of Deltares explains the

issue further. ‘The government wants to

ensure that everything is carried out ac-

cording to this uniform, semantic standard,

even though that’s not always necessary in

practice. The Aquo standard is not always

recommended in tenders submitted by

Rijkswaterstaat for application develop-

ment, for example. Some applications

use it while others don’t.’ According to

Everwijn, this depends on the need for

sharing information. A need for informa-

tion sharing is often paired with a greater

need for standardisation.

Workable

Either way, it is the IHW’s responsibility to

ensure that the standard becomes simpler,

more workable, and more international.

‘Another option is to develop a provisional

data model that could be easily converted

to a new international standard over time.

We expressly reject the idea of a parallel

development process. We don’t want

to imply that we can do things better or

smarter than the IHW, which has worked

so hard for so long on this,’ says Feron.

Nick van de Giesen of TU Delft has

his doubts. ‘How often do we publish

Dutch-language articles in scientific jour-

nals? To us, it’s strange to come across the

identifier “ditch” in a standard. But I do un-

derstand why the Dutch initiative is consi-

dering this. In time, we could convert this

standard to the Water Markup Language

(WML) 2.0,’ he says. ‘Like Aquo, this meets

the rather general European-inspired

guidelines and is managed by the Open

is threefold: management, standardisation,

and technical implementation. ‘We’re doing

this with fifteen people and limited financi-

al resources of just 3.5 million euros a year,’

says Boris Everwijn, programme manager at

IHW. ‘The Ministry of Infrastructure and the

Environment is the primary stakeholder.’

IHW’s Aquo data model could be develo-

ped into an industry-wide standard, despi-

te the scepticism from various companies

and knowledge institutes. ‘They prefer an

English model,’ says Raymond Feron. ‘Aquo

is good, but it’s very detailed and compli-

cated. There has been talk of simplifying

the Aquo standard and translating it into

English in order to implement it on an

industry-wide European level. But for the

time being, Digital Delta is using the Aquo

standard as is.’

Initially, Van de Giesen had some-

thing bigger in mind than what is

currently being realised. ‘In addition

to the data, I would have liked to see

Digital Delta develop a high-perfor-

mance computing facility that would

allow us to generate models and

visualisations for users,’ he says. ‘So

far, this hasn’t been possible. The

project focused on making data

findable, available, and accessible.

The idea was and still is to help third

parties develop commercial and

non-commercial services based on

the available data, once it becomes

available,’ he explains. ‘But it’s still

possible to apply high-performance

computing to this data for analysis

and modelling purposes.’

Not easy

‘For TU Delft, Digital Delta’s current

design is still valuable. Data will

always be indispensable to science,

but finding and sharing that data

is not always easy. We sometimes

lack the necessary data knowledge;

for example, the reason why data is

incomplete at a given time. While

the requested data may be available,

it might be in a strange or unusable

format,’ Van de Giesen explains.

‘One example of an application

involves optimising operational

water management. At the moment,

for example, a lock is opened for a

fixed period of time when the water

reaches a certain level. But this can

affect water levels elsewhere. What

we want is an integrated and real-

time view of the whole picture,’ he

says. ‘This requires us to access data

from Rijkswaterstaat and from the

water boards.

TU Delft has invested a lot in Digital

Delta. A portion of the proceeds are

used to facilitate interaction with

Rijkswaterstaat, the Delfland Water

Board, IBM, and other stakeholders.

We also need to think of the next

steps. The government will have to

develop the ecosystem, which will

make it possible for other parties

to use the available data to develop

services. As for us, we’ll have to

determine whether we want to do the

same or enter the market at a later

date.’

‘An integrated view’

Professor Nick van de Giesen of TU Delft has been involved with Digital Delta from the start. As a member of The Top Team Water, he saw a real advantage for science and research and believed in the ‘golden triangle’ between the business community, knowledge institutes, and the government.

N I C K VA N D E G I E S E N

30

S TA N DA R D I S AT I O N

>

>

31

3332

doing the same thing with the Central Data

Layer,’ says René Kint, CIO of the Delfland

Water Board. ‘This means all data from the

water boards will be suitable for similar

aggregation based on our own standards.

This can then be linked to Digital Delta.’

Same model

De Haan stresses that the principle fits

seamlessly with the prevailing ideology

that standardisation should ideally be

done at data level. ‘That’s what makes this

possible,’ he says. Kint agrees. ‘All of the

water boards can use the same technology

to do this because our data is fundamen-

tally linked to the same model,’ he adds. ‘If

you wanted information about a lock, for

example, all water boards would have the

same data as the objects are all standar-

dised. All data translated via the Central

Data Layer can be retrieved in Digital

Delta thanks to this link.’

This wasn’t possible before because eve-

ryone had to work hard to standardise the

data to ensure it fit the data layer. ‘A data

structure would be imposed that did not

match your own data,’ Kint explains. ‘We

started standardising the data based on

the DAMO Water System, the new standar-

dised data model for water system data

provided by the water boards.’

Geospatial Consortium, which facilitates

international data exchange.’

Van de Giesen nevertheless expects all

stakeholders to move in the same direc-

tion. ‘For the water boards, all meetings

have always been held at the Association

of Water Boards and STOWA level. Of

course, opinions may differ with regard

to standards and other issues, but not by

much,’ he adds.

‘Web services are becoming the stan-

dard and that’s what we’re focusing on,’

explains Stef Hummel. ‘Ideally, the sources

would export their data in the right way.

If that’s not possible for whatever reason,

you have to be able to convert that data

yourself.’

Data layer

A recent development that coincides

with the launch of Digital Delta is the

implementation of the Central Data Layer.

According to Joost de Haan, coordinator

of Physical Digital Delta, this would help

to reinforce the concept. The Central Data

Layer is an initiative that will collect data

from the water boards, with a view to

the legal requirements surrounding data

needs, such as the Water Framework Di-

rective and INSPIRE. A similar data layer is

well-known within the water sector and is

also used by Rijkswaterstaat. The content

of various databases is made available

from a central location in order to link it

to Digital Delta, among other uses. ‘We’re

‘In order to send information flows,

the IHW is supervising water ma-

nagers in their role as source data

suppliers,’ says Everwijn. ‘This data

must be made available on request

and in a standard format. We are

generating information by ensuring

that the data matches the context at

the source. This makes it easy to draft

reports on request for The Hague or

Brussels.’

Clear

‘We also play a role in terms of

content,’ he continues. ‘Our Aquo

standard makes it possible for

involved parties to easily exchange

data. The open standard has been

designed to facilitate data exchange

in the field of soil and water beds.

Aquo is in line with the international

standard for measurements,

although it is characterised by a

higher abstraction level and is

therefore less detailed than the

international standard. Aquo covers

all aspects of water management:

from water quality, water safety,

and water quantity to the licensing

B O R I S E V E R W I J N

“We expressly reject the idea of a parallel development process”

S TA N DA R D I S AT I O N

>

and enforcement of the Water Act.

Our third contribution concerns the

technology that allows us to translate

data into information, which we can

then standardise and make available

to others,’ he explains.

‘Aquo also plays a role in several use

cases within Digital Delta. To be

honest, I had hoped we’d be a little

farther along by now. Three factors

play a role in data exchange: contents,

format, and transmission. The last

two aspects are still under discussion.

Steps have been made in terms of the

semantic standard the IHW provides,

but we also need agreements on for-

mat and data transmission. In technical

terms, Digital Delta was supposed to

be a technological solution in the form

of a service bus. While the catalogue

has indeed been developed, the link to

other services and sources still needs

to be made.’

‘Data becomes information’The principle behind information sharing fits seamlessly with the tasks and objectives of the Informatiehuis Water (IHW). According to IHW programme manager Boris Everwijn, collaboration within Digital Delta was good from the very start. However, not all promises have been fulfilled.

34

We’re doing this at an individual level

at the moment, in what we call stove

pipes,’ he explains. ‘The website

Actuelewaterdata.nl uses data from

Rijkswaterstaat to generate internet

images. That same data can also be

shared as raw data with our water

board colleagues directly from the

source, i.e. from the monitoring net-

work. A good foundation layer will

make it possible for the development

clubs from various stakeholders or

third parties to develop their own

APIs (interfaces for communication

between systems),’ he adds.

‘These steps have already been taken.

Rijkswaterstaat is developing a wa-

ter data distribution layer that the

water boards are also working on.

When these two portals are up and

running, we’ll link them to Digital

Delta’s central platform using a fib-

re-optic connection. This will allow

us to process all data requests on

behalf of citizens, stakeholders, and

companies interested in developing

an application. We’ll tell them: this

is where you can find all data and

instructions, so have at it.’

Fall-back scenario

‘It’s unlikely that the government –

i.e. Rijkswaterstaat and the water

boards – will fail to make this data

available through a central link. If

we don’t succeed, Digital Delta will

become a catalogue, a data stan-

dard, that governments can use to

make data and applications visible

and reusable. This is a good fall-

back scenario but not the intended

purpose. It would be a pity if the

data available via the link could not

be used to develop applications. In

other words: if the private sector

does not view it as a worthwhile

pursuit.’

‘From individual to generic’Raymond Feron works as the programme director for Digital Delta at Rijkswaterstaat. This broad, collabora-tive position is what makes the job so appealing.

ARNOLD LOBBRECHT of HydroLogic

describes this in his poignant and accu-

rate White Paper [CURS]Digital Delta in

practice[/CURS]. Information from various

databases is connected to a network

through web services. These are software

solutions that provide data and services

on request via secure internet connec-

tions. Online communication makes it

possible to access data remotely via a

network of service buses. A service bus

enables secure access to the data, which

means people and organisations can only

access open data or restricted data they

are authorised to see. This makes it possi-

ble for people to access data from around

the world and allows for collaboration be-

tween national and international parties.

This creates interoperability. Service buses

R AY M O N D F E RO N

have software applications that use the

data. Examples include visualisations

in maps and graphs, dashboards with

automatic analyses, and models for high

water levels. The applications are based

on the Software as a Service (SaaS) model.

In practice, these are web applications

hosted at different locations. The strength

of Digital Delta lies in the fact that the

suppliers of the applications and the data

are not necessarily the same parties. Ap-

plications can be developed by different >

3534

suppliers to create a huge network of

data and services. The authorisation and

authentication of organisations and users

makes the network secure.

Uniform

One characteristic of Digital Delta is that

both data and applications can function

across the service network, which means

users don’t have to worry about how the

data is routed or where the application is

located as this is arranged by the service

network. There’s also no need for applica-

tion providers to worry about data access:

this has been arranged in a uniform way.

Software developers can save eighty

per cent of the time it takes to develop

a new application and focus instead on

functionality. They can also focus on their

“Creating the link is a question of timing”

Within Digital Delta, data is standardised and made available by water managers and other stakeholders, such as data providers and citizens. The link is based on a service bus.

Link

36

added value and further specialise in their

field of expertise. This makes applications

designed for one water manager perfectly

suitable for use by another water mana-

ger. In most cases, minimal configuration

is needed for a water system to use the

knowledge embedded in the application.

This creates an approach in which multiple

parties collaborate to help end users save

on the costs associated with developing

and maintaining applications. Specialised

parties focus on data access (databases),

data transport (service network), and ap-

plications (added value, innovation). That

is what Lobbrecht has concluded so far.

A question of timing

‘Creating the link is a question of timing,’

says Raymond Feron. ‘We’re waiting until

two or three serious solutions are ready

for reuse. Technology is still very much in

development. It would be a shame to tap

into that too early on. This would require

so much customisation that Digital Delta

wouldn’t be able to reuse what it already

has.’

The water sector’s solution should be

easy to link to various domains, such as

air, soil, agriculture, noise – everything of

relevance to quality of life and legislative

processes. ‘Everyone can then adapt it for

their own domain. If your link becomes

easily accessible in another domain, you

L I N K

no longer need to worry about developing

complicated, collaborative IT things that

can exchange data.’

According to Feron, this link should not

be overly intelligent to prevent it from

competing with the market. Additionally,

the platform shouldn’t be slowed down

by heavy government standards. ‘Service

buses tend to regulate data traffic. A ser-

vice level can be agreed on to guarantee

the speed and scalability of commercial

applications. There’s no way companies

will base their fast-paced business on

a slow-paced government. Sometimes,

the catalogue’s search function will be

enough to get parties to the source.’

Offer

‘If you ask everyone what they need be-

fore setting up an information platform

like this, you’ll get a million different

answers,’ says Joost de Haan, coordinator

of Physical Digital Delta. ‘All you need to

offer is a platform and the right standards.

Once you connect to this platform, you

can make sure everything is validated and

traceable. Then all you need is authori-

sation to ensure privacy, but that can be

arranged later.’

“All you need to offer is a platform and the right standards”

>

37

39

Ambition

IHW’s primary goal is to harmonise, stan-

dardise, and share water-related infor-

mation. The Aquo data model could be

translated into an industry-wide standard,

despite the reservations and scepticism

expressed by some stakeholders. In the

context of Digital Delta, the standard

should become simpler, more workable,

and more international.

According to Oosters, the IHW could

eventually serve as one of the information

centres in the Laan van de Leefomgeving,

which was in part modelled after the

THE 2014 GATEWAY REVIEW recom-

mends clearly positioning Digital Delta

within the context of other initiatives

being pursued in similar fields, such

as the Informatiehuis Water (IHW) that

developed the Aquo standard for Rijkswa-

terstaat and the water boards. Similarities

can also be identified with programmes

like Laan van de Leefomgeving as part of

the Environment and Planning Act, which

is primarily aimed at licensing. All of

these initiatives complement each other,

despite this not being entirely clear to

everyone at the start.

‘People still find it hard to explain the

concept of Digital Delta,’ says Hans Oos-

ters, chair of the Schieland and Krimpe-

nerwaard Water Board and member of

the Association of Water Boards. ‘There

was also some confusion about its added

value and the difference between the

IHW, which has been active for four years.

The partnership, which includes the water

boards, Rijkswaterstaat, and the provinces

(IPO), collects and standardises a lot of

relevant water information and makes it

available for application and use. All water

boards contribute to this financially.’ >

“Connecting to Digital Delta is a no-brainer for

the parties involved”

The vision that most closely resembles the design of coupling points like Digital Delta is that of the Laan van de Leefomgeving, the Environment and Planning Act currently being pursued by the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment. How does one compare to the other?

Laan van de Leefomgeving

4140

‘The Association of Water Boards is

an umbrella organisation that aims to

ensure that all innovative endeavours

pursued by the water boards are

properly showcased,’ he explains.

‘We also serve as a unifying factor to

get things done together. Our third

task is to serve as lobby organisation

to get issues on the political agenda

in The Hague,’ he adds.

‘The Association of Water Boards has

chosen to focus on issues that really

matter within our own field and that

of the water top sector. Digital Delta

is one of these. Others include safety,

building with nature, living with

drought, climate-active cities, and

water technology. Several cross-con-

nections have been made among

these themes.’

Meddling

‘Sometimes, the suggestions pro-

posed by the Association of Water

Boards are viewed as meddling. This

is typical for a sector under deve-

lopment. In terms of innovation, the

water boards often claim to have

their own innovation agendas, which

are running according to plan. But

water boards are also collaborating

at industry level with the Foundation

‘Innoveren en exporteren’

As chair of the Vechtstromen Water Board and member of the Association of Water Boards, Stefan Kuks is in favour of updating the water boards’ innovation portfolio. Doing so would improve connections with the agenda of the water top sector, of which he and his Delta Technology team are a part.

S T E FA N K U K S

IHW. Preparations for this are currently

underway. ‘It’s still an ongoing discussion

because we don’t know who will pay for

this: central government or the local go-

vernment. As a member of the Association

of Water Boards, I’m trying to keep this

political and substantive discussion open

to alternatives.’ This vision is also shared

by other water boards.

According to Oosters, a bottom-up initia-

tive like Digital Delta is one of the provisi-

onal options. ‘This is a great ambition and

the idea is to generate enough support

among the water boards to transition to

the Laan van de Leefomgeving, although

I do recommend mobilising this via IHW.

With twenty-three participating water

boards, this is important for legitimacy.

Letting go of these initiatives is unlikely to

be understood in the field. The question

is whether the foundation from the water

boards and Rijkswaterstaat is broad en-

ough. Given the intended source of infor-

mation at the Laan van de Leefomgeving,

more parties are likely to become involved,

such as municipalities, provinces, etc.’

No-brainer

As part of the Environment and Planning

Act, the water sector must comply with the

Environmental Licensing (General Provisi-

ons) Act (WABO) and the Water Act for all

issues pertaining to safety and water. There

are ten to twenty additional acts in the

other domains, all of which are incorpora-

ted into the Environment and Planning Act.

This offers a solution for licence applicati-

ons and also for inquiries. Digital Delta will

be designed to respond to these develop-

ments and become a domain-transcending

concept.

Boris Everwijn, programme manager at

IHW, is ready for this. ‘The Environment

and Planning Act is likely to recommend

the standardisation of information sharing.

With this in mind, water managers should

probably get involved at an early stage so

they can exert some influence over these

developments. Broadly speaking, Digital

Delta is moving in the same direction as the

Laan van de Leefomgeving, so why not set

out the course together. Everything we’re

doing is in line with general developments.

The Water Act, for example, was incorpora-

ted into our Aquo standard some time ago,’

he explains.

‘Digital Delta is pointless if it’s not compa-

tible with the Laan van de Leefomgeving,’

adds Joost de Haan. ‘Everything we do

should be in line with this. As Digital Delta

is growing per project, one might conclude

that the Laan van de Leefomgeving has

been realised to a certain extent. Connec-

ting to Digital Delta is a no-brainer for the

parties involved.’

for Applied Water Research (STOWA),

which they fund. STOWA connects the

three points of the golden triangle,

particularly knowledge institutes and

water boards. One of the initiatives

is to set up pilots. Of the four steps in

the innovation process – identifying

issues, setting up pilots, implemen-

ting solutions, and exporting them –

STOWA is closely involved in the first

two. The Association of Water Boards

is committed to working with STOWA

to increase awareness among the wa-

ter boards for follow-up projects that

involve the business community. We

need to move from a push strategy

to a pull strategy. In other words, the

water boards first need to formulate

the problem, after which companies

can work on developing solutions.

We’ve noticed that companies find it

difficult to work according to demand

instead of supply. Water boards also

find this difficult, because they’re

used to working on tendering proces-

ses with detailed specifications.’

Success

‘As far as the water top sector is con-

cerned, Digital Delta will be conside-

red a success if it helps Dutch com-

panies develop innovations that can

be successfully exported abroad. In

this context, the water boards should

serve as the launching customer. As a

member of the water board, I find the

term “lead user” important. I’d like us

to stay involved in the further deve-

lopment and for people to continue

to draw on our learning experiences

in the Netherlands and abroad. A sus-

tainable relationship will make our

top sector’s export model that much

stronger. To compensate them for

the costs incurred, the water boards

should be able to profit from the

revenue model,’ he explains.

‘Another success factor is to set up

Digital Delta in a way that ensures

sound commissioning and allows

us to improve the government’s

image with regard to IT projects. We

can prove that innovative develop-

ments don’t have to be expensive to

generate social returns. Failure, on

the other hand, would be if nothing

changes.’

L A A N VA N D E L E E FO M G E V I N G

“I see similar developments in different areas”

“As far as the

water top sector

is concerned,

Digital Delta will

be considered a

success if it helps

Dutch companies

develop innova-

tions that can

be successfully

exported abroad.”

>

42

as eensuring that continued attention was

paid at the administrative level was paid

to the active involvement of the golden

triangle. Collaboration with the water

boards must be self-evident.

The core of this collaboration is formed

by the public parties: or Rijkswaterstaat,

according to the Gateway Review. They

should work together to ensure good ma-

nagement and decision-making practices.

Clear agreements should also be made

about what this means in terms of the divi-

sion of tasks in the water boards. Finally,

people need to realise that making good

agreements takes time.

Frontrunners

Chair Luc Kohsiek praises the Delfland

Water Board as a co-founder of Digital

Delta. ‘It’s always nice to have frontrun-

ners like this,’ he says. ‘Hollands Noor-

derkwartier is willing to invest time and

Future incentives

THE AFOREMENTIONED Gateway Review

contained several key recommendations

that have been largely been realised: an

informed decision on cases and stan-

dards and an analysis of the relationship

between Digital Delta and other initiatives

that focus on maximum synergy and reuse.

Another recommendation involved deve-

loping an integrated financing plan for the

programme that includes the management

phase. Critical recommendations also in-

cluded a re-evaluation of the administra-

tive and organisational conditions, as well

The Digital Delta programme has generated impressive results. For the next phase, it’s important to maintain the administrative involvement of the golden triangle – the collaboration between the government, researchers, and entrepreneurs. Implementing the Digital Delta programme hinges on good decision-making.

>

43

4544

van de Leefomgeving. The revenue model

outlined by IBM’s Djeevan Schiferli largely

involves long-term promises. ‘The public

parties wanted to know how they could

use this data to help them save costs

and simultaneously help the business

community develop smart applications

and services more quickly on their behalf,

preferably for the international market,’

he explains. ‘The answer: if a knowledge

institute or a company presents a good

use case that demonstrates the advanta-

ges they expect to achieve and the data

they need to achieve it, they should make

this data available so that others can use

it as well. In other words, it’s developed

once but can be applied multiple times in

a user-friendly way. Draw on the creativity

of private parties and continue to challen-

ge them.’

This requires considerable leadership in

this phase. ‘As administrators, we tend to

energy into implementing this as long as

it can agree on the benefits. I think this

applies to all water boards. As initiators,

Delfland and Rijkswaterstaat want to see a

speedy implementation, but in my opinion

we’re missing a step: making sure everyo-

ne is keen on getting involved.’

In addition to ensuring that the generic

interests of all parties are clear, we also

need to ensure that individual and insti-

tutional interests are served. According

to Hans Oosters, these interests conflict.

‘The new Environment and Planning Act

is being presented as a liberalisation that

will benefit the business community,’ he

says. ‘A beautiful digital future is being

painted that may not benefit everyone in

the end. It’s fine to digitise the licensing

process, but some licences are only issued

two or three times a year. Is that worth the

time and energy it takes to digitise the

process? After all, it’s coming from the tax-

payers’ pockets. Everyone is touting the

social interests, but we should also focus

on creating a revenue model that serves

institutional interests.’

Promises

As far as Digital Delta is concerned, the

biggest advantage involves sharing water

management data and applications and

creating a bottom-up link with the Laan

‘When Deltares got on board two

years ago, there were five parties

involved in the Digital Delta project,’

he says. ‘Those organisations

were represented on the steering

group and and at programme

level. Deltares brainstormed

about what the platform should

look like. A team of architects was

appointed, which I joined on behalf

of Deltares thanks to my experience

with software architecture. I

worked with representatives from

participating organisations, such as

Rijkswaterstaat, TU Delft, IBM, and

the Delfland Water Board.’

Good reputation

‘As a knowledge institute, Deltares

works in close collaboration with

governments, businesses, and other

knowledge institutes. The Nether-

lands is known as a leading internati-

onal water expert. Data management

is an essential part of managing

water problems. Deltares provides

national and international water

managers with the data solutions

and innovations they need. Digital

Delta is an important initiative that

fits seamlessly with the knowledge

and skills of both Deltares and the

Netherlands. It also stimulates

further developments in this field,’

Hummel explains.

‘While we always managed to obtain

the necessary data before, searching

for this yourself is not the best

solution. Much of this data has not

been standardised and is not easy to

find. You also need tools and services

to analyse, process, and use this data.

Digital Delta can lay the foundation

for the continued development of

similar applications by the original

stakeholders or by third parties.’

Logical steps

‘The project has not progressed far

enough to determine whether our

objectives have been met,’ Hummel

adds. ‘Despite being ambitious from

the very start, we may have got stuck

discussing and documenting these

ambitions instead of making real

progress. We need to involve more

parties if we hope to implement

it. People need to be willing to get

to work. This should preferably be

done by taking the necessary logical

steps.’

‘Logical next steps’As a software architect for Deltares, Stef Hummel works on developing software that can analyse and process data. Another important area is user interfaces.

F U T U R E I N C E N T I V E S S T E F H U M M E L

“The project has

not progressed

far enough to de-

termine whether

our objectives

have been met.”

>

>

45

46 47

leave the technical content and consi-

derations to the people who know what

they’re talking about,’ says Stefan Kuks.

‘The risk is that the dialogue will become

too technocratic, which will result in a kind

of amateurism. As an administrator, it’s

important to maintain an overview of the

costs and functionalities.’

Boris Everwijn of IHW is not surprised that

the decision-making process surrounding

the link’s standards and design is a long

one. In his opinion, people don’t want

to see this kind of management. ‘People

face enough tasks and responsibilities in

everyday life. They don’t want wishes and

demands from even more parties. In terms

of management, we need to figure out how

to get people to deliver the requested

information through an API in the right

format and in the right way. While we’re

legally required to provide this at the IHW,

in other domains this will have to happen

voluntarily. This calls for the necessary

support.’

According to Everwijn, a political man-

date is required before Digital Delta can

advance to the next phase. You first need

to identify the bottlenecks in order to

allow an organisation to take control of the

democratic and solution-oriented process.

‘But before we can do that, we first need a

mandate. The Water Steering Committee

appointed by the minister is perfectly

capable of getting this issue on the agen-

da. While we certainly need to generate

support, the other stakeholders also need

to offer something concrete.’

European

‘A European scenario is imaginable for

Digital Delta,’ says Raymond Feron. ‘While

we currently lack the foundation, Interreg

recently submitted a grant application for

joint projects in the field of spatial plan-

ning and regional development. The goal

is to share the research results and the

implementation experiences with local

governments in the so-called “northwest

countries.” This process will cover all do-

mains, which means it’s not water-specific.

Our water data model and a Norwegian

traffic standard may very well form the

basis for an international initiative.’

“Everyone should be interested in getting involved”

E N N U V E R D E R . . .

‘When we first came up with the idea,

we organised a workshop during an

innovation session with a big group

of entrepreneurs,’ he explains. ‘We

asked them if they’d be interested in

using a shared infrastructure to show

the world what the Netherlands can

do in terms of water management.

The physical aspect was important

because lots of ideas had been dis-

cussed in the top sector, but very few

of them ever came to fruition. We

received twelve concrete proposals

from businesses and knowledge

institutes that demonstrated their

willingness to invest in different use

cases. So we got to work.’

Sounding board

‘Once the Digital Delta concept star-

ted to take shape, we appointed a

sounding board of more than twenty

Dutch parties,’ De Haan continues.

‘We asked them constantly how Di-

gital Delta could help improve their

daily work. At the time, an SME was

afraid the project would push them

out of the market. As this was never

our intention, we decided to change

course by assessing the market and

making the necessary adjustments,

which turned out to be the prerequi-

sites we needed to develop a succes-

sful sequel. In other words, we put

the user first. Involving the triangle

– the government, business commu-

nity, and knowledge institutes – was

extremely important as it ultimately

had to be used in practice,’ he says.

‘Digital Delta is a real combination

of entrepreneurship and existing

infrastructure and vision. The five

original partners – IBM, Deltares,

TU Delft, Rijkswaterstaat, and us –

were all in the same boat, but with

different commissions. It was the

government versus market parties

and knowledge institutes. It was

logical to give the government the

task of managing a thin IT layer and

developing standards and agree-

ments on the quality of validation.

It came down to developing an eco-

system that could involve everyone,

including other market parties, as

much as possible. We entrusted this

to the government.’

Two managers

‘We said from the very start that

the Netherlands has two surface

water managers: Rijkswaterstaat

and the water boards. The premise

has always been a 50/50 division,

which means that we all carry half of

the costs and efforts. We also asked

STOWA to get involved and help us

link the existing solutions and the

shared interests. It was clear that if

Digital Delta was the brainchild of

just Delfland or another water board,

half the world would turn away. The

same would be true if Rijkswater-

staat took the reins. It’s about the

user, not the balance of power.’

‘We prioritise issues based on the

wishes and needs of users. We also

use this to determine who can help

solve certain issues and who can

share existing issues. The point is to

draw on each other’s strengths. You

need to be able to trust each other

and trust that others will help you

solve a shared problem. The problem

is never yours alone. The result is an

overarching sense of mutual gains

plus.’

No force

‘In order to achieve your goals, you

need to consider the pace that a spe-

cific government can handle. A small

water board, a small municipality,

and a small service component sim-

ply can’t take on as much as a larger

one. You can’t force things.’

‘Not a paper initiative’

Joost de Haan and Raymond Feron are two of the driving forces behind Digital Delta. As a member of the water board, De Haan was ‘outsourced’ to the water top sector to implement his ideas. As chair of Physical Digital Delta, he has given the project the boost it needed.

J O O S T D E H A A N F U T U R E I N C E N T I V E S

“You need to be

able to trust

each other and

trust that others

will help you

solve a shared

problem.”

>

48

49

“A European scenario is imaginable

for Digital Delta”

48 49

50

“Responding to individual and general demands”

DOOR HOTZE ZIJLSTRA

Did you have a roadmap or a final goal at the start of the

process?

‘A project like this can only succeed if you approach

it in an unorthodox way. You need to have faith and

shouldn’t dwell too much on what might happen in the

future. You just need to do it, which is not as easy as it

sounds in a government organisation. Rijkswaterstaat

got involved pretty quickly, which gave us a major

player. The Association of Water Boards was also quick

to get involved. Delfland carried the whole initiative

and helped shape the interaction with other parties. In

2012, we started the Physical Digital Delta pilot.’

Michiel van Haersma Buma:

Did the Delfland Water Board see the advantages from

the start?

‘Absolutely. Validated and standardised data is essential

to good water management, particularly for preventing

the influx of salt water. Our previous policy was based

on measurements in our own area, thereby ignoring the

salt water noted in other areas. By linking our own data

sources and sensors to those of external parties, we can

both respond and anticipate future developments by

allowing more fresh water to enter an area. The advanta-

ges of sharing information and reusing technology were

clear for other water boards as well, from a cost and

I N T E RV I E W

>

Michiel van Haersma Buma, chair of the Delfland Water Board, is one of the initiators of the Digi-tal Delta project. ‘The idea was partly based on the challenges we face here in Delfland, for which we did the necessary research.’ Thanks in part to his efforts, making information more readily available and reusing existing technologies and standards were prioritised on the water top sec-tor’s agenda. ‘After we made it clear how important IT is to share information, people became increasingly enthusiastic. Then we simply ran with the initiative.’

51

5352

management perspective. The water boards demonstrated that

they were dynamic organisations that were ready to work together

to take great strides.’

More than four years later you have a catalogue that can make

water data easier to find

‘We just rounded off the first phase in this process. We notified

top sector representative Stefan Kuks [chair of the Vechtstromen

Water Board and a member of the Association of Water Boards]

that the innovation has been prepared, tested, and assessed and

that the objectives so far have been met and the future possibili-

ties are achievable. Digital Delta has since been presented to the

members of the Association of Water Boards with success. After

completing the catalogue, it’s now time to enter the application

phase and start developing a central link that authorised parties

can access. Hans Oosters, chair of the Schieland and Krimpener-

waard Water Board, has been appointed administrator on behalf of

the Association.

Digital Delta is the perfect example of a successful government IT

project. How do you explain this success?

‘We kept the group relatively small. There was also a lot of mutual

trust. There was and still is a great deal of interaction. It’s about

complementing each other instead of getting your name in the

newspaper. We also have a lot of respect for each other’s positions

and took each step in the process with great care. Two in-depth

Gateway Reviews were an important part of this process and

ended in a positive recommendation. Another success factor was

that the project’s advantages were easy to explain. They weren’t

easy to explain in terms of IT, but talking about it in clear and

accessible language made the impact clear to everyone. Adminis-

trators could use this to substantiate their decisions.’

What were the most important learning experiences so far?

‘Last year Rijkswaterstaat focused on the second Gateway Review,

so that it could be ahead of the game in terms of any problems or

questions raised by politicians and constituents. That was a good

decision. TAX-i – the unsuccessful system for water board levies

– taught us that acting on personal interests never works. Digi-

tal Delta was motivated to take on one challenge after the next,

which allowed us to respond to both specific and more general

needs. If we had described all of these things in advance, the

project would never have gained ground.’

A multitude of stakeholders with different interests could slow

things down.

‘As a representative of the Association of Water Boards, I never

really stopped to consider whether everyone agreed with me.

If you set up the front line and believe in what you’re doing, the

only thing left to do is act. Delfland was interested in Digital Delta

for personal reasons, so we wanted to put in the effort to make

it work. At the same time, we’re part of a Dutch private limited

liability company, which means we need to consider the social

relevance as well. So in that sense, we were responsible for the

entire water sector. We assumed we’d ultimately get all of the

water boards on board.’

Did it matter that you and Rijkswaterstaat were initially responsible

for acquiring funds?

‘Well, I didn’t exactly go door-to-door collecting money from

individual researchers. We offered to share the risk with Rijkswa-

terstaat. We did, however, approach STOWA for a grant. As for the

other water boards, we decided the first step was to demonstrate

that the project was feasible and useful. If so, everyone would get

on board. Success has many friends, after all. If you wait to get

everyone on board before starting, the process will be extremely

slow, overheads will increase, and interest will start fading away.

All of the stakeholders now see the value of Digital Delta. But this

wasn’t the case in the beginning. How did you get them to move

past their reservations?

‘We launched the 3Di project in collaboration with the Hollands

Noorderkwartier Water Board at the same time as the Digital Delta

project. This helped us show the other water boards that we were

not afraid to get involved. Another important factor was getting

M I C H I E L VA N H A E R S M A B U M A

“If you wait until everyone’s involved, interest will start fading away”

>

>

the business community on board. We needed them to believe

in what we were doing and tell their colleagues about it. Joost de

Haan and Raymond Feron played an indispensable role in this.

After casting the initial stones, we looked for allies and started

creating ripples. We soon realised that this project was addressing

important questions people had. We were addressing individual

and general needs.’

“Talking about it in clear and accessible language made the impact clear to

everyone”

5554

How are you embracing standards within the group dynamic you

described?

‘We’re simply choosing one standard over the other. Of course,

we’re examining the standards currently in use and taking the

needs and wishes of users into account as well. If we didn’t, it

would be like buying a car without intending to drive it. Lots

of standards get dismissed immediately, because they’re not

user-friendly or because they’re too expensive for general use. All

of the parties involved are free to use point-to-point standards,

but these aren’t part of the ecosystem we offer.’

The triangle of government, knowledge institutes, and businesses is

extremely important. The latter seems to be playing a smaller role.

When do you expect more companies to join the project?

‘As I explained, precision has always been one of our pillars in

this process. You need to prevent bottlenecks at all costs. During

the Gateway Reviews, we closely examined the position of other

involved parties like Deltares, IBM, and TU Delft. Were we doing

the right things in terms of competition and vendor lock-in? And,

given the conditions, would these parties stay to the end? The

Gateway Review found that the government should be the one to

take the next step, particularly in terms of data protection guaran-

tees, openness, and authorisation. No lock-ins and no lock-outs.

All of the market parties, including IBM, would then be more likely

to get involved. And they will. Digital Delta is not a government

plaything.’

How do you view the role of knowledge institutes?

‘Universities should excel at research. But to do so, they need the

right data. Digital Delta can help make this data available. Alterna-

tively, they will have to share their own data and research findings.

They develop new technologies and applications that will one day

be marketed. Think: sensors, apps, and other smart technologies.

Revenues should contribute to better research, which should in

turn create new business. This will have a positive impact on the

economy and on water management. Private parties, that now

provide some of the data, may receive fewer assignments, but a

world of new business will open up for them because they will be

able to develop higher quality services.

Do you have an ideal conclusion in mind? Where do you see Digital

Delta in a few years?

‘I hope the platform will be able to address all future questions.

We’re at an advantage in that we can already respond to various

developments, such as international collaboration and the Laan

van de Leefomgeving. What’s more: the development of Digital

Delta will help us develop the Laan. We do have to explain oursel-

ves now and demonstrate the advantages. But soon we’ll be able

to address issues posed by other stakeholders. For all of this, we

are spending public funds with the utmost care. After all, there’s

no need to improve something that does not need improving.

In the near future, this concept will be applied on a wider scale,

both nationally and internationally. Thanks in part to the parti-

cipation of market and knowledge parties, we can export part of

our philosophy. On the other hand, we can learn from the expe-

riences gained abroad and apply these in our daily practice. The

most important benefit is that we can substantiate all of our water

management decisions.’

M I C H I E L VA N H A E R S M A B U M A

“The most important benefit is that we can substantiate all of our decisions”

>

56

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