Update governance and progress Development Operations NWO-I programme
It has been a while since NWO-I reported about its Development Operations programme. Meanwhile, due to the departure of the interim Director of NWO-I and Director of operations, a different situation has arisen in the governance of NWO-I. We will therefore update you on both matters in this issue of Inside NWO-I.
Departure of Jan van der Boon
Last July, Jan van der Boon, Director of operations and interim director of NWO-I, decided to leave NWO-I. For almost three years, he very much enjoyed working for NWO-I and, in this period, positive steps were taken to develop the NWO-I-wide operations and to strengthen the services the NWO-I Office provides to the institutes. NWO-I is very grateful to Van der Boon for his considerable efforts in taking the organisation to the next level.
Temporary new form of governance
The departure of Van der Boon led to a meeting of the NWO-I Foundation Board, the management team of the NWO-I Office, and the Institute directors and managers to discuss the future governance of NWO-I. For the time being, they jointly decided not to appoint an interim director to fill the positions of director NWO-I and/or director operations NWO-I. The responsibilities and tasks from these positions will be reallocated to people at the office, the Institute managers and the Foundation Board. In addition, new meeting formats will be established to bring the institutes, office and foundation board closer together. In addition, for each domain in the NWO-I-wide operations, a person responsible for that domain will be appointed. This model will be effective until at least April 2024.
Looking towards the future
Across NWO-I, it has been decided to try out the working method described above for the coming months and, where necessary, to adjust this. If this model works to everyone's satisfaction, it can be converted into new statutes and regulations. The works councils will be closely involved in that process, of course. In the coming months, it will also be decided how the Development NWO-I Operations will be continued.