Madelijn Vijfhuizen and Sharaifa Mik are leading this project on behalf of the City of Rotterdam. They are part of the Digital Participation Task Force. Madelijn serves as process manager, while Sharaifa is the product owner and project manager. Together with Mendix Business Consultant Tim van Leeuwen, they discuss their collaboration on this participation platform. Sharaifa: ‘For this project, we were looking for a Mendix Developer, who was able to understand both our needs and those of the people of Rotterdam. The City of Rotterdam was already collaborating with Alistar in several areas. That collaboration was going very well, so when we, as the Digital Participation Task Force, were assigned an Alistar staff member, expectations were high.’ Madelijn: ‘We think it’s very important to have a good rapport with the developer. In our conversations with Tim, it quickly became clear that we had a great match with Alistar.’
“It is important to understand the purpose of the development process.”
Sharaifa: The great thing is that Tim doesn't just view this project from a technical development perspective. He understands the context of this digital platform; he knows exactly what we're building and for whom.
Tim: That’s really something that’s part of who I am and who my Alistar colleagues are. It’s very important to understand the purpose of the process you’re working on. If you understand why you’re building something, you can provide much better feedback and make suggestions as a developer.
Sharaifa: A major advantage of working with Alistar consultants is the comprehensive and integrated nature of our collaboration. Tim thinks holistically, looking beyond his own assignment. He’s truly one of us—he acts like a full-fledged team member.
Madelijn: To me, that’s typical of the people at Alistar. You can tell it’s a young company, with ambitious people who are given plenty of room to grow. We really notice that a lot of attention is paid to that way of thinking and working.
It is important to understand the purpose of the development process.
“The desire to fully understand a political task like this is unique.”
Sharaifa: It’s a certain type of person—committed, positive, and curious. They’re trained in-house and are also capable of training others. In addition, Alistar provides a lot of guidance, which gives us, as the client, a sense of security. We’ve noticed that, at their core, Alistar staff members are all the same, no matter who you work with. They can adapt very quickly, give us peace of mind and confidence, and know Mendix inside and out.
Tim: We’re definitely very committed. What we all have in common at Alistar is that we always want to achieve things together. We’re truly convinced that you have to tackle things together to get the best results. You have to look beyond your own little world.
Madelijn: That’s truly unique. In this specific case, I also find it remarkable that there’s so much interest in getting to the bottom of a political issue like this.
Sharaifa: Because Tim invested a lot of time early on in understanding the political context in which we’re building “My Rotterdam,” we can now adapt at lightning speed. He understands how things work. That willingness to really dig in and get to the bottom of things is incredibly valuable and inspires a great deal of confidence. When he advises that something can be done a certain way, we trust him on that.
Tim: Working on this project has really made me care deeply about the city of Rotterdam. I think it’s important that everyone can use “My Rotterdam.” The UI and UX must perfectly align with what people want and are capable of. The barrier to entry must be as low as possible; only then can “My Rotterdam” achieve its goal and can we make a positive impact on the residents of Rotterdam.
“We’re building something here that will make the residents of Rotterdam happier.”
Madelijn: For us as a municipality, it’s really great to work with an organization that’s so focused on the impact on the end user. Residents want to have more influence and be more involved. And as a municipality, we want to know what’s going on in the neighborhood. This platform gives us the opportunity to let residents have a say and to adjust our policies accordingly.
Sharaifa: And it's working, because we've already received a lot of proposals in a short amount of time.
Tim: You're actually building something here that makes people happier. The fact that you can see the immediate impact of what you build as a team—that's what I love most about this project.
End User
Moni Otte: A group of enthusiastic residents from Carnisse is working with the City of Rotterdam to develop a vision for the future, to determine what the neighborhood should look like in 2035. The input on “Mijn Rotterdam” helps both parties guide the planning process. The residents’ voices are being heard, which makes everyone feel really good.
Update | Winner of the 2023 Computable Awards
On October 30, 2023, Mijn Rotterdam won the award for best government project at the 2023 Computable Awards.
“A panel of Computable experts evaluates each entry using a four-digit rating system. The main jury determines, for each category, how much weight each component should carry, after which the ten entries with the highest averages in sixteen categories are nominated.”.
”Once all the nominees have been announced, Computable readers will also be able to vote. The market’s vote ultimately accounts for 50 percent of the winner’s selection. The other half is determined by the independent jury’s decision.” – Computable
The City of Rotterdam, Mendix, and Alistar received a score of 7.56, one of the highest in the category. And with 18,21%, they won the public vote. Discover here more about how the results were determined.
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