His vision centers on one belief: information is essential to protecting lives and allowing organizations to act effectively. Kenny Meesters: "Information is always important in crisis situations. It helps to reduce uncertainty, make better decisions and get a better overview." At the same time, he sees that working with information is becoming more complex. "We have more and more sources at our disposal."
Making choices - where is potential?
He says the biggest challenge therefore lies not in technology itself, but in making choices. "What information do I need? Which techniques should I choose? And how do I deploy them efficiently based on the situation I'm dealing with? We have a large arsenal of options. Having a feel for tools and techniques is important, but in data, cyber and the digital world, it's harder to get that feel." Human behavior then plays a key role. "It's much more about how people in the organization deal with it, can deploy it and understand it, than the technology itself. In short, what is needed to get the potential out of it?"
Two impactful developments
Meesters doesn't have to think long about which technological developments have had a major impact on crisis and disaster response. "The first is social media as a communication tool. It's not just about analyzing sentiment for public communication, but mainly about having direct contact with people." According to Meesters, this makes communication flatter. "We have seen in international disasters that one specific post can lead to a rescue, because someone still needed to be rescued from under the rubble." The second development, as far as he is concerned, is digitization and digital collaboration that allows information to be shared more quickly. This creates essential exchange between people, organizations and systems.
Information-driven work starts with people
"It's true that information-driven work is a term you hear more and more often. It's actually quite special. I then ask myself: what were we doing before? Surely it was always the intention that we would do and work information-driven decision-making." So as far as he is concerned, the term is not new, but fortunately it is getting a lot of attention. Especially in a crisis context , Meesters believes it is important to be able to gather information quickly to reduce uncertainty. And what are the biggest obstacles to really getting it off the ground? "Software is about after Lego the most flexible building material we have. Wecan make everything from AI to websites to dashboards. The challenge is not whether we can develop certain technologies, but rather: how do we make sure people are willing to be information-driven and therefore have specific skills to make decisions." This is much more of a change in people and organization. Regardless, the digital toolkit is getting more comprehensive. "You gain confidence by not seeing it as a black box that we put something in and get it out, but by really understanding how those technologies work."
Active role student program eRIC
Meesters is involved in the student program at eRIC. Together with Volker Stillig of Saxxion, they organize the student program at eRIC. "I think it is important to introduce a new generation and young talent to this - often still unknown - field of work. We see more and more young people who are looking for a job ánd want to contribute something to society." At the same time, he sees that security organizations are in need of new knowledge. eRIC, he believes, is the ideal place - and combination - to bring those worlds together.
An informative and exciting day awaits students. "We will actively guide them at the fair and introduce them to professionals from the world of emergency services and security. We have already noticed at previous editions that successful connections and relationships were created there." And even beforehand there is guidance: "A week before the fair we organize an online meeting for our students to prepare them well."
Practical
Every student (20 years and older) is welcome, regardless of field of study. "We deliberately keep the threshold low. If you want to participate in the student program and come to the fair, all you have to do is register via the website. Maybe you have no affinity, zero experience or knowledge of the security domain yet? That is precisely why we are organizing this interesting program," said an enthusiastic Kenny Meesters.
Volunteers in the starting blocks
Kenny also sees a role for volunteers in the coming years. "Volunteers are an important capacity that you can use to work with data, information and technology." And he emphasizes that this group is often already at the ready. "They are people who have certain knowledge and expertise, who may not work permanently for a security organization, but are certainly ready to do so." To prepare volunteers or a new generation of professionals for complex situations is not just about when it is needed. Collaboration, he says, must start early. "It's a relationship that has to be established earlier. For example, through exercises and projects, so that there is already trust."
Personal motivation
During a disaster in Haiti, Kenny Meesters himself discovered how great the impact of information can be. "That's when I actually found out that there are not very many people with a technical background working in that field. I then experienced that I can contribute something to a better world in times of crisis. That was actually my first step. Now I hope to give students that same experience and discovery. That they see that their knowledge matters. That technology and people together form the basis of effective crisis management," he concludes.