First reflection on the Modernisation of KIVI Regulations
Dear KIVI members,
For the past six months, I have been part of the working group Modernising KIVI regulations and I would like to share something about this with KIVI members and bureau staff - we are on the right track! During the period 2012-2018, I was a member of the KIVI Members' Council. During that period, many agreements written down in regulations turned out not to be fulfilled. Necessary adjustments to keep up with the accelerating digital age were also not implemented quickly. Fortunately, I see many good changes in the last year, what a relief.
I fully understand that regulations will be tough reading for most people. But let's face it, a regulation is also just a set of specifications. Not of a technical component but a specification about the process of how we want to work together. And processes really belong to engineers too. Without the technical processes and products engineers have realised over the past centuries, we would still be naked on the moor.
Every advantage also has disadvantages. When we don't follow those specifications that we previously thought important enough to write down in regulations, something is not going right. Of course, it could also be that advancing time has made certain agreements redundant. Then let's take them out. Or that time makes new arrangements important. For instance, transferring certain tasks from the office to the departments, simply because we can't pay more staff due to the drop in revenue. For me, a refresher was badly needed.
The regulators
In February 2020, the main board established our MKR working group. A month later, we had our grassroots group standing. A nicely diverse club with its own opinions and visions about the words on paper. Until that moment, my own views were mostly based on my own opinions of the past few years, and I agree with them very often but they also have their limitations.
Now looking back, something beautiful happened. The discussions were not about the outdated articles in the regulations. The working group wanted to talk about what KIVI should be in our eyes so that we would be energised by it. How do we want to work together? What would we want to come together for? And that, of course, is what it is all about. Our regulations should reflect what we want to be about, and not, as in engineering, that specifications determine what a product should be like. A wonderful reversal of thinking that I myself initially overlooked far too quickly.
The exception to the rule
Of course, there is also an exception to this rule. These are the external obligations we as KIVI will have to comply with. Think of the legal rules for associations or financial requirements from the government. Or, for example, agreements made by the main board with external parties such as Chartered Engineer. We as regulators do not look at those. Personally, I am interested in understandable and clear internal agreements that are workable for everyone, so that we can do great things together on the one hand and, on the other hand, fit in well with the aforementioned external obligations we are bound by. I am also pleased with the reactions of board members of departments who indicate that they want to help think about the way we want to shape our association together. Hopefully, we will soon be able to restart our association activities with new zest.
Greetings,
Gijs Breedveld
September 2020