If you deal with death and the wishes of the deceased and their next of kin on a daily basis, you know that the margin of error must be small. The world of organ and tissue transplantation demands accurate and reliable information. So it will be exciting when the Dutch Transplant Foundation decides to insource application development and data management in 2018. Since its foundation in 1997, the NTS has been using IT support from Eurotransplant, the umbrella European foundation. Both foundations decide to complete the IT unbundling process. But how? And, which capacities should the NTS develop then? Is that possible with the limited size of the NTS?

The NTS does not have much time because the introduction of the Active Donor Registration Act on 1 July 2020 is fast approaching and in the meantime they have to move to new premises in Leiden. Both have a major impact and a high IT and data component. It is important that there is clarity soon!

In the summer of 2018, I developed a vision for and especially with the Dutch Transplant Foundation about bringing information and data management under our own control. What capacities do we need, what do we do ourselves, what do we outsource? What technology do we use and how do we become proficient at it? What priorities do we choose? This plan, which also has personnel implications, has been approved by the NTS works council.

Recruitment has succeeded in filling two crucial new roles, that of information manager and lead developer. Our own people will be in charge, a key element of the plan! My mission will be complete in the spring of 2019, when the structure will be in place and all the bases will be covered. After a month of handing over to the new information manager, I leave the NTS and its staff with professional pride and personal admiration.