During the partner meeting on 27 January, Nelen & Schuurmans signed the cooperation agreement with DigiShape. In this interview, Joost van der Hammen and Evert Wielsma explain why they are joining the company, how water and digitization have been at the heart of their work for years, and why this is the right time for them to become an active part of DigiShape.
Water and digital are one
“At Nelen & Schuurmans, water and digital are in everything we do,” says Evert, director and substantively involved in AI and digitization in the water sector. “From operational water management and water safety to data management, software development and decision support systems. We have been working at that intersection for years, for water boards, municipalities, provinces, drinking water companies and national governments, but also internationally.”
According to him, an integrated approach is essential to tackle water taskings properly. “You can’t conduct good water management without reliable data, good models and systems that translate that into practice. Conversely, digitization in our sector only has value if it is firmly rooted in domain knowledge.”
Joost, partner at Nelen & Schuurmans and active in the field of flood risk management and the business development of the new platform Rana Water Intelligence, recognises this from his daily practice. “You can see how crucial it is nowadays that data, models and decision-making come together. Not only for analyses, but also for operational water management.”
DigiShape has been in the picture for some time, now the tipping point
It was no coincidence that Nelen & Schuurmans ended up at DigiShape. “We have been following DigiShape for a long time,” says Joost. “We were present at various meetings, sometimes as participants, sometimes as speakers. What is striking is that DigiShape has clearly developed itself in the past period. Where previously it was often about exploring and sharing knowledge, you now see that DigiShape actually brings parties together and organizes cooperation around concrete themes.”
An example of this is the DigiShape meeting on digitwins at Royal Haskoning on 23 June 2025. “That meeting didn’t stop at ideas alone,” says Joost. “The conversation in one of the sub-sessions has led to us now being involved in setting up a program to make the value of Digital Twins in the water sector tangible. To this end, we are setting up projects with, among others, Rijkswaterstaat, the Drents Overijsselse Delta Water Board, TKI Delta Technology and DigiShape. That shows how a DigiShape network meeting can have an impact on collaboration.”
Data issues are an industry-wide issue
“The data issues we deal with at Nelen & Schuurmans are common to the entire sector,” Evert continues. “How do you ensure that data is reusable, that you can turn it into information products and that you can later trace which data and models underlie it? In practice, we have a lot of valuable data in the Netherlands, but it is stored in a fragmented way. Measurement data, geographical data and model results are in all kinds of different systems, at different organizations and with different standards. That makes reuse and upscaling complicated.”
“The knowledge that is created at DigiShape does not remain with one party, but is open and reusable.”
– Evert Wielsma, Nelen & Schuurmans
Photo: Joost van der Hammen (left) and Evert Wielsma (right) present the new platform Rana Water Intelligence
Autonomy in a changing playing field
Autonomy is also becoming increasingly important in the digital playing field. Joost: “We are building more and more critical processes in the water sector on digital technology. Then you have to ask yourself where that technology comes from and how dependent you want to be. If you open the newspaper and see what is happening geopolitically, how AI is developing and how dependent we are on non-European technology, then I think: as a sector, we really have to do something with this.”
A network like DigiShape is needed to make these kinds of considerations together: with governments, market parties and knowledge institutions. Evert: “It’s not just about better tools, analyses and reports, it’s about making agreements with each other, developing standards and organizing them together, also towards policy and governance. DigiShape helps to organize that collective voice and make it more visible. It is impossible to solve this as an individual organization.”
Evert continues: “There are already several national initiatives to bring data together, such as the Basic Register of the Subsurface (BRO), the GWSW and the water board data hub. ” These processes show that it is possible. It takes time and investment, but the result is that governments store and share data in a uniform way through one national facility. We also need that type of movement in the water sector.”
According to Joost, many parties are needed for this: water boards, provinces, municipalities, Rijkswaterstaat, the Water Information House, the Water Board House, Bij12, but also initiatives such as Rethink the Delta, the DMI Ecosystem and the Open Urban Platform Rotterdam. “We are involved in all these parties and DigiShape is a great platform to bring the water sector together on this theme.”
“At DigiShape, ideas can develop further towards application and upscaling.”
– Joost van der Hammen, Nelen & Schuurmans
Photo: Joost van der Hammen (left) and David van den Burg (program manager DigiShape, right) sign cooperation agreement.
Collaboration beyond competition
What is special about DigiShape is that parties work together that also meet each other as competitors. This is not a problem for Nelen & Schuurmans. “The water sector is small and everyone relies on their own strengths,” says Joost. “In one tender you are competitors, in another you work together. That always gets mixed up.”
“This is a precompetitive environment,” says Evert. “The knowledge that is created here does not remain with one party, but is open and reusable.” According to Joost, this is also an added value for clients. “When you work with DigiShape, you work with the joint knowledge of the network. Insights that arise here can be reapplied to other projects and clients. As a result, the sector is developing faster.”
A joint step forward
With the partnership, Nelen & Schuurmans and DigiShape are taking the next step together. “We bring our substantive expertise, experience with data and models and our vision of digitization,” says Evert. “And we are stepping into a network where that knowledge can grow further.”
Joost concludes: “This is a place where ideas do not get stuck in pilots, but can develop further towards application and upscaling. From pilot to impact. That is what we stand for, and that is exactly what we want to take further within DigiShape.”
