In conversation with Maarten van der Veer

How do municipalities organize their elections as smoothly as possible? That is the question Maarten van der Veer considers every day. In his dual role as Consultant and Product Owner, he is responsible for Shift2: the application that allows municipalities to organize their elections in a streamlined way.

Maarten van der Veer is from Wageningen and has been working for Conxillium since 2009. Originally he worked at GeoTax, but in the meantime he fulfills the Consultant and Product Owner role at Shift2. His position allows him to work independently. That is exactly what he likes about Shift2. Just like the small team, where everyone has their own field of expertise and works closely together.

Maarten, can you talk more about your dual role at Shift2?

"You can think of elections as process-driven seasonal work: I work toward a certain day. Up to and on that day I am working as a Consultant for the elections. But once election day is over, that role is no longer needed until the preparation for the next election. However, I can use the input I received leading up to the election to then improve our software. That is why at Shift2 I am both Consultant and Product Owner of the software.

In practice, this means that I help municipalities organize their elections and everything around them. For example, I assist them in using the application, but I also help them tackle challenges surrounding elections by exploring together the many possibilities within Procura Elections.

At the same time, I see and experience what is happening on the shop floor, what municipalities are planning and what people are getting stuck on. As Product Owner, I use that input to work with the developers to improve the application for the rest of the year, so that the following year the municipality can hopefully work even better with our software solutions. For example, consider the option to be able to add polling station maps, or have Procura Elections automatically create a complete layout for the most appropriate people per position."

How do you relieve municipalities as a consultant & product owner?

"At most municipalities, they work with processes that have been around for decades. But technology changes at lightning speed, of course. I therefore try to help municipalities with challenges that arise around the election period. These can be application questions, but they can also go beyond that.

It can be very helpful to take a critical look at the election procedure used:

What are we working on?
What is the best process to work with?
How can we get more out of the application?
And how can we improve our election process?

From a process support role, I try to help them do that and also answer the question, "As a municipality, how do you make sure that the software solutions are set up to fit how you want to work?

When I visit, I demonstrate the many features of the software solutions and how they can assist in making the election period more efficient. In some cases, I help with a specific functionality. But more often we review the entire election process from A to Z.

In addition, we offer remote assistance. For example, we try to make municipalities more knowledgeable about our software by providing good information. We share that information through the software, but also through our well-attended webinars.

Ultimately, my goal is to make municipalities feel like elections again. The relief is in being able to get the most out of our software solutions and elections. First from my advisory role, and then from the Product Owner role to focus on where the application can still be improved. Telling, listening and improving, that's how you can sum up my role."

What does a day at a municipality look like?

"Of course, my day always starts with coffee, after which I log into the municipality's environment with the municipality and I show them the capabilities of our software. The municipality then knows what is possible and then chooses the software solution that best suits the municipality's election process. The starting point is that the municipality's election process is leading and the software adapts to it. However, I do try to advise the municipality. A lot is possible with modern technology. Some time-consuming tasks can now be done much more conveniently and efficiently through new software solutions.

During the visit, I set up the application according to their wishes. So that when I am gone again, they also feel that they can pick it up themselves. So I actually show the application and click around with them, where my goal is not only to show them the software, but also its relationship to organizing the elections. We start at the beginning: 'You start with organizing elections...' and then step by step we walk through the application.

The biggest challenge in organizing elections is picking them up flawlessly. There are quite a few variables involved, such as polling officials, the communications department, ICT that has to handle the technology, and you want it to go flawlessly. So that's what we at Shift2 are most concerned with. Ultimately, we have the same interest as the municipality: making sure that journalists only talk about the color of the pencils on the news. When that's succeeded, we know for sure that everything went well.

Another thing I do during such a day at the municipality is drop by ICT. Our application runs in the cloud, which means that municipalities have to connect to it. But that can only be done through the municipal network. Where necessary, I therefore visit the ICT department to discuss how they can arrange that. In that case, the connection is always quickly realized. With direct personal contact, links can often be arranged quickly. But if I don't, chances are that the connection is not made because the team has outstanding questions. And then the person who has to assign the polling officials is at a loss for words. We want to avoid that, of course."

What new developments do you see in your role as a product owner?

"If the government ever decides to start digital voting, it will be up to the Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations to speak about it. Of course, voting computers can save a lot of time, because manual counting requires a lot of volunteers. That method of counting is based entirely on the four-eye principle. The more eyes present, the less chance of errors and fraud.

Ultimately, our voting style also leans on the perception that you may be able to say that you have a non-hackable ICT system, but it only takes one person to claim otherwise and the count is no longer accepted. Perception is very important in elections, as we have seen in America.

Volunteers also bring a certain level of community involvement. They are often the people from the municipality itself, which still makes it a celebration of the municipality and its residents and not national or regional. It may be human and time-consuming, but it certainly has its advantages. Actually, I think you should continue to work with volunteers no matter what. That way you retain the personal aspect and involvement from the local population.

And as for our software, of course we will continue to develop it and make it as perfect as possible. As I said, we all serve the same interest: streamlined elections. By tinkering with our application all year, every year, without being distracted by other things, we can achieve that."