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Spilberg IT Consultant and Functional Analyst at Regional Government of Flanders, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries

Maaike Vanderperre

The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries oversees farming and fishing activities within the Flanders region of Belgium. Starting in mid-2021, the Department began upgrading to more advanced IT applications. As a functional analyst, Maaike finds solutions that the Department deploys broadly within the cloud environment.

The challenge of IT innovation in government

IT innovation in government is challenging, because it involves a diverse range of stakeholders and regulatory hurdles. In addition, solutions must be widely deployable. Maaike Vanderperre is helping the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to overcome these challenges. As a functional analyst, she helped close the gap between the Department’s needs and its IT Team’s expertise.

The pivot makes the difference

Within the Department, Maaike now serves as the hub around which IT innovation revolves. She is the fixed point of contact whenever any team within the Department needs a new tech solution. It’s her job to talk to product owners and ensure that the right solutions are implemented. After an initial mock-up, the developers get to work and iterations are made and monitored by Maaike. She protects the interests of all stakeholders, including the IT Team. Through extensive analyses, she is ensuring that old applications get moved to the web environment, including redesigning them where necessary. In addition to major projects, she oversees smaller-scale modifications of existing IT solutions.

The key to successful IT innovation

So, what’s the key to successful IT innovation at the Department? Carefully balancing stakeholders’ needs, communicating them to product owners and extensively testing solutions. Spilberg is proud that Maaike and her team are helping to make it happen.