The staff unit CIO Office, Quality and Support (CKS) provides policy advice and establishes and enforces the information services policy. Through its Support Centre, the staff unit assists RIVM staff with questions and issues related to hardware (laptops, tablets, desktops, phones) and software. It also manages and improves quality and IT administration processes, particularly in the event of changes, outages (incidents) and other IT-related problems. Additionally, the staff unit protects RIVM against cyber attacks and offers risk management advice. Lastly, CKS monitors systems and intervenes when necessary (information security).

Head Yvonne van Opstal

Yvonne van Opstal studied Business Economics at the Royal Military Academy and subsequently worked for several years as an officer in various management positions within the Royal Netherlands Air Force. In addition to studying Business Administration at the Open University, she has completed several further education courses at Nyenrode Business University and elsewhere, including in Change Management, Digital Leadership, and Behavioural and Cultural Governance.

Yvonne has a particular affinity for working for organisations that face significant changes. After her time with the Royal Netherlands Air Force, she held several roles with the municipality of Ede as a manager of operations and information services, as well as with a large educational foundation as a corporate controller/finance manager. She is driven by a wish to ensure that people perform to their best abilities and achieve excellent results.

The staff unit Applications and Databases (APD) manages the applications in use at RIVM. This concerns generic applications such as MS Teams and SharePoint. APD also ensures that custom applications are available, secure, and continue to function effectively. Furthermore, the staff unit is responsible for developing and ensuring the ongoing accessibility of databases and data warehouses, as well as supporting clients with data usage. APD also develops application software and oversees all phases, from conception to management.

Head Chris ter Steege

Chris ter Steege studied Philosophy at the University of Utrecht, specializing in Practical Philosophy. In his final thesis he made a proposal for a more meaningful use of the concepts of 'customization' and 'citizen participation' in the social and political debate. During his studies, he worked as a counselor for young people suffering from autism, after which he worked in various roles at the Healthcare Inspectorate, including as a disability care inspector and HR advisor.

After this, he fulfilled various interim assignments within policy, implementation (business operations and IV/IT) and surveillance. For most of those years he worked on the subject of Homelessness in the Netherlands, where he focused on the active involvement of homeless people in policy and implementation. He was also involved in promoting Lean and Agile thinking and working within the ministry.

His last interim assignment was at the IV/IT-organization of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, where he had such a positive connecting with his colleagues that he gave up his interim work. After initially leading a number of departments, he subsequently became a member of the MT as Head of Staff for Applications and Databases, where his portfolio included Culture and Behavior. Linking joint reflection to a focus on results and people is what drives him.

The staff unit General ICT Services makes sure employers have what they need to do their work, both in the office and beyond. This includes facilitating laptops and phones, as well as the virtual workspace and workstations tailored for specific groups, such as laboratory staff and scientists.

The staff unit also manages the RIVM access, product accounts, and email and calendar applications. Additionally, GIV is responsible for RIVM's Government Data Centre, servers, network services, and platforms. GIV ensures that these systems not only function well, but are also secure. It does this not only for RIVM, but also for external clients.

Head Joost Romswinckel

Joost Romswinckel has a background in business administration and also studied Business IT & Management. Joost began his IT career in 2004 at Getronics, where he held various positions and worked with several major clients, including Royal Dutch Shell, NAM, and Dutch Railways. Leadership roles in the technical domain have been a consistent theme throughout his career.

In 2011, Joost joined the Dutch government at P-Direkt, the SAP HR system used centrally by around 140,000 civil servants for their HR administration. After specialising for several years in IT process management (ITSM, ITIL, Prince2, and later AGILE), Joost returned to a leadership role at P-Direkt. On 1 October 2018, Joost transitioned to RIVM, where he now serves as Head of GIV and also fulfils the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO), bringing him closer to technology once again.

In his CTO role, Joost has developed a vision and strategy that ensures the technical choices that RIVM makes are better aligned with the needs of both RIVM and its external clients. Additionally, this strategy emphasises the importance of ensuring that the technology meets government frameworks and industry standards.

The staff unit Research and Data Services (ODD) advises RIVM researchers on data stewardship, statistics, modelling, data science, data visualisation, GIS, bioinformatics, and computing. It can also perform analyses in these fields upon request. Additionally, ODD ensures that RIVM researchers are well-connected in these areas, providing policy and guidelines, knowledge transfer, quality assurance, and evaluation within these fields. It identifies innovative research methods and adopts them when relevant for its clients. ODD employs 70 staff members across three departments:

• Data and GIS
• Statistics, Data Science, and Modelling
• Bioinformatics and Computing

Head Inez Joung

Inez Joung studied Medicine and Policy Sciences. She started her career in 1991 in public health research at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, consecutively as PhD student, post-doc researcher and assistant professor in Public Health Research Methods. Her research focus was on social differences in health, so health differences between socio-economic groups, by ethnicity, marital status or living arrangement.

From 2004 onwards she has held a number of research & management positions in health related organizations including department head of Regional Cooperation in Oncology at the Comprehensive Cancer Centre Rotterdam, managing director at the Dutch Hospital Data Institute and manager clinical research informatics at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, Canada. In 2014 she continued her career at the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) as senior advisor Health information infrastructure. In 2018 she became head of the department of Statistics, Data Science & Modelling at RIVM and in 2021 she was promoted to head of the Research and Data Services staff. From 2017 until mid 2024 she also acted as Chief Data Officer of RIVM.

The Research and Data Services staff comprises three departments (Statistics, Data Science & Modelling; Data & Geographical Information Systems; Bioinformatics & Computing). The staff is responsible for providing advice to the researchers of RIVM in the areas of data stewardship, statistics, modeling, data science, data visualization, bioinformatics and computation. The staff ensures the connection of RIVM research in these topics, and provides knowledge transfer, quality assurance and evaluation in these fields. The staff is also responsible for identifying innovative research methods and promoting its use within RIVM.

The staff unit Information Services Advice and Management (IAR) is the primary point of contact for all clients, though certain components work exclusively for RIVM.

IAR:

• advises RIVM’s management on the development of the information services landscape necessary for the execution of RIVM’s processes;
• supports clients in formulating information services queries at the strategic, tactical, and operational levels;
• manages the functional operation of general information services systems;
• advises RIVM’s management on the availability, integrity, and confidentiality of information services systems;
• is responsible for establishing specific agreements on project execution (scope, budget, timeline, overview of executing parties, and agreements on management and maintenance);
• provides project management for the completion of assignments;
• manages delivery portfolio and resource management for the Information Services organisation;
• oversees service portfolio management for the Information Services organisation;
• advises on agile working methods through the Agile Center of Competence. 

IAR comprises four departments:

• Information Services Advice (IVA)
• Project and Delivery Management (PDM)
• Functional Management (FB)
• Coordination and Support (RON)

Head Elise van Batenburg

Elise van Batenburg studied Business Administration and Communication Science. Between 1994 and 2004, Elise held positions at KPN Telecom in marketing, business development, and sales. She also worked internationally in the joint venture between KPN Telecom and Swedish Telia, where she gained expertise in how to build markets from a business perspective, as well as in optimising market share and revenue through product and market development.

In 2004, she founded a strategic consulting firm for corporate strategic assessments, working together with consultants in corporate finance. In 2007, she brought her business to Atos Consulting, where she established a Business IT consultancy as principal consultant. Over the past 10 years, she has worked in the health sector in the city of Amsterdam.

Since 2022, she has served as Head of Information Services Advice and Management at RIVM. The staff unit is responsible for strategic and tactical advice on information management issues. Furthermore, the staff unit provides project managers, service level managers and functional managers. To manage assignments, the staff unit offers support in the areas of delivery portfolio management, service portfolio management, and business relations management.