Jaap van der Welle – Manager Corporate IT at Mourik
“Digitisation: absolute necessity”
“I love my job because it touches on all parts of the organisation. Because of this, I have contacts with many colleagues. I value this greatly, for not only do I get to hear and feel everything that is going on within the organisation, but it also enables me to explain and emphasize the need for further digitisation.”
Personal
“I will be 50 soon, I’m married to Caroline and the proud father of three children: Martijn (18), Manouk (17) and Wouter (14). In my free time I like to go cycling or hiking. Furthermore, I value spending time with my family and friends and I’m a lover of cabaret.”
Smiling, Jaap says: “Although I am a relative newcomer by Mourik standards - I joined the company six years ago - I feel I have been part of the family business right from the start. How come? I work on the basis of trust, I have an open nature and I stand for my people. These are values I recognise in the Mourik organisation. Binding leadership and a large commitment to the employees match with my own ideas about good employment practices. Especially in current times, Mourik distinguishes itself from other companies by not losing sight of the human being behind the employee.”
Making our mark
“How can we distinguish ourselves as a company? Both in the infrastructure and the industrial sectors, many innovations have been introduced and implemented in the past few years. Now, however, we are on the eve of a digital revolution that will have a major impact on our private lives as well as our working lives. Everything will be digital. Take, for instance, self-driving cars or sensor technologies (Internet of Things), which will make the maintenance cycles of asphalt and all kinds of plants and equipment transparent and manageable. As a result, digitisation is moving from a company’s back office to its core processes with lightning speed. Mourik should move along with these changes. Innovation and digitisation go hand in hand in this process. IT is an important catalyst in innovative processes. On the one hand, as part of innovations and, on the other hand, as an absolute prerequisite. Furthermore, IT contributes to a multidisciplinary collaboration by pooling the IT knowledge we already have within the Mourik organisation and ensuring optimal uniformity in processes and applications. It is self-evident, therefore, that our recently recalibrated IT strategy is based on collaboration and innovation.”
And much more
IT activities go beyond merely applying the latest technologies to enable easier collection and processing of data. What is done with the information? Where and how is it stored? What legal and compliance issues are involved? How do we guarantee information security? In following articles, we will discuss the ways in which the department gives substance to these issues.
“If Mourik wants to continue playing a competitive and distinctive role, it is essential that we now take steps to achieve a high level of digitisation on all fronts. However, while doing this we want to hold on to the core values of our family business. This is essential for continuity”, Jaap concludes.
