Bart Dooms, Program Manager EXCITES, VITO (Flemish Institute for Technological Research)
Innovation, creativity and eagerness to learn are the fill rouge in my career. I started at a bank institution with a background in nuclear power and computer science, where I programmed for the dealing room. My curiosity about the internet brought me to a start-up which was doing DB publishing, from 1 DB publishing to print and website at the same time.
Thanks to this, I have seen some parts of the world (US, India, UK). Unfortunately, we went bankrupt. The next step was working for an HR services group where I had various positions from ICT quality to compliance and audit and thus learned how a large company is managed. But the call to technology and sustainability was too strong, so I have been working for VITO, a research institute researching sustainability, for almost 12 years now.
Here I have organized several things to strengthen innovation, from idea-fairs, boot camps, and co-creation sessions with companies. Today I work as a Program Manager at EXCITES (Excellence Center for Innovation and Technologies for Sustainability), where I may continue to look at how to help researchers to be innovative.
My main focus is open data/open science and setting up data governance to make it happen. I strongly believe that open science/open data will further accelerate innovation. Outside VITO, I have been working for more than ten years with Haspenwood on the quest to valorize uprooted apple trees because I live in the Haspengouw, the pre-eminent fruit region in Belgium.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
My favourite social media platform depends on the theme that I'm interested in. I only follow on Twitter people and organizations that can teach me something about open science. For my furniture-making hobby, I follow wood-art people on Instagram. I'm a member of Facebook groups around S-pedelecs. And in LinkedIn, I let my connections surprise me.
Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.
In my current role, I have one big wet dream for 2030, which is that VITO researchers are finding the right information without searching. Just like Spotify knows which music I like in the morning/lunch break/evening. We have to offer the right information to the right researcher at the right time, so they can focus on the insights and wisdom.
But good (Open/internal/external) Data starts with great data governance. The VITO knowledge graph makes it possible to link everything and make interdisciplinary inventions possible. So, these are the things that will keep me busy in the coming years.
What do you like about your career or area of focus?
I got the freedom to look around to see what was changing in the world. So, I have a good gut feeling of what new trends are going to stay (internet, sustainability, open science). And I then start with a challenging project, where I need to learn new things and new people. Once I set up the right organization to make it operational I got free time to start it all over again.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
In my first job, someone told me that he is against the rules; as soon as you have defined one rule, you have people who abuse the rule, who interpret it literally or not, and principles are much more powerful.
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
Once I start a new challenge and I have to learn new stuff, I'm always looking at good reading material. Talking to people that are experts in this field. So, a good book can inspire me and bring me some new ideas that I want to realize, the last one I read was "Green swans" by John Elkington.
The next thing I do is check these ideas with my peers, and this refines the ideas. So now I'm busy introducing the financial market aspect in our research institute "a blind spot" until now.
What are you proud of in your life so far?
No doubt my family, my wife and my three kids.
What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?
Difficult question. For the last six months, I've been on Lunchclub, which brought me in contact with a lot of new interesting people out of my geographical comfort zone. But in my geographical comfort zone, I prefer real-life meetings like network events.
And the best way to meet new people is to do a boot camp/workshop, and then the format (online/offline) doesn't matter because you're working on the same objective, and that makes the connection complete.
What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?
Do you know the 10-80-10 rule of change management? 10% of people are for, 10% are against, and 80% are herd animals who follow whichever group of 10% shouts the loudest. So, you only need to focus on 20%. You get the 10% in favour of good ideas that you bring to implementation (one of my skills). Good listening, openness and diplomacy have helped me understand and get the 10% of opponents on board.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
I am blessed with good cognitive abilities and a great willingness to learn, which makes finding well-paid work easier than others. Unfortunately, our society is organized to teach us that we must work to live. But, I would like to have learned how to live without working. Because then we could pay more attention to what people like to do, especially for those people with less good cognitive abilities.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
Each discipline has its peculiarities with its pros and cons, so hard for me to choose. The best thing is to combine these to make the best of everything, put them in touch with each other and see how they learn from each other. This I have missed, especially during the past lockdown, where virologists had the most influence and some sacrifices were made mentally and socially.
Outside of your professional/work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
I am a hobby furniture maker and make stairs, a cabinet, and a door once in a while. But there must always be something creatively challenging in it. Otherwise, I don't start. So, not a straight staircase, but a spiral staircase or a crooked staircase, a door with glasswork in it.
Furthermore, Haspenwood has become a hobby where I look for valorization for harvested apple trees. And with which we have already won many innovative prizes, including best amateur bier with our applewood smoked beer "rook", the Henry Van de Velde design award for Haspencube.
Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you managed it?
The positive effect is that now after the pandemic is going to an end, homeworking is becoming the standard. So, we only have to go to the office once a week. Another positive thing is the online meetings, in that sense that it becomes easier to set up a meeting with people from the other side of the country/world without making the trip.
The negative thing is that I miss the positive energy from real live meetings; luckily, this is coming back. At VITO, we were used to working from home, it was allowed for two days a week, so our business wasn't really impacted. However, the informal connections were gone, and they do sometimes accelerate innovation.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever mentored anyone?
I was a mentor for the new employees at VITO. Bringing them all the knowledge they need to feel at home at VITO. But, for Haspenwood, I sometimes miss a mentor who can bring Haspenwood from a hobby to a real company where I could live. So, If one of you readers could mentor me in this one, please contact me. I'm always open to listening.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
I have only one piece of advice, listen to your heart and follow your dreams. And remember, a good idea is hard to kill.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
The most common reason people fail is that they don't feel good about it. This can be because of their work environment, not the right atmosphere, negative feedback from those around them, or not being understood. My advice is never to change your idea or intentions but to change your environment.
Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?
Yes, I like the quote from Pablo Picasso: "Inspiration exists, but it must find you working."
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
For the moment, I like foresight institutes because they help us to give a positive/achievable sustainable image of the future. So, they help to convince people/businesses that the Climate goals are achievable. And you have many of them, like Kairos Future, Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies, and a forum for the future.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
Define long-term success and make it concrete and leave room for implementation. An example of Elon Musk's success is going to Mars, but he does not yet say how and when. And we know that there are many challenges that we have to take to go to Mars. This leaves room for others to link their success to your success.
This inspires others, and they will each contribute in their own way to your success. But certainly do not make the mistake of creating a detailed milestone plan from the beginning. Instead, leave room to experiment and tryouts, and don't forget to celebrate the smaller successes.