(Leeg, niet verwijderen s.v.p.) Name | Place | Version The Power of a Strong Data Foundation Axel van ‘t Westeinde Data platform lead, Van Oord Big Data Expo 12th September 2023

(Leeg, niet verwijderen s.v.p.) The power of a strong foundation is best demonstrated by its absence Dubai and Van Oord are trusted partners Dubai in 2009 ▪ Beautiful and rapidly built-up city

(Leeg, niet verwijderen s.v.p.) The power of a strong foundation is best demonstrated by its absence Dubai and Van Oord are trusted partners Dubai in 2009 ▪ BUT, no proper sewage 🡪 Compensating for a lack of the basics

(Leeg, niet verwijderen s.v.p.) Profile ▪ Leading international marine contractor ▪ Specialised in: – Dredging and marine construction – Offshore wind – Offshore energy infrastructure – Land infrastructure in the Netherlands ▪ Independent family-owned company ▪ Long-term view to provide marine solutions of value Company profile About us

(Leeg, niet verwijderen s.v.p.) About us Main activities Driven by a growing world population striving for prosperous, high-quality and safe living standards Increasingly required improvement in global flood and coastal defence to protect nature and communities against floods, extreme weather and maintain biodiversity. Driven by global climate & biodiversity agreements A growing and wealthier population demands more energy, requires investments in energy supply. Leading to a need for both offshore, and new energy infrastructure increasingly driven by public renewable energy targets Climate adaptation Energy transition (Leeg, niet verwijderen s.v.p.)

( Building a Data Foundation Why What How

(Leeg, niet verwijderen s.v.p.) ▪ Entrepreneurial people with strong engineering culture: “Marine Ingenuity” ▪ BUT, dispersed analytics initiatives which compensate for a lack of solid data foundation 🡪 Efficiency is key Context Building a Data Foundation | Why

(Leeg, niet verwijderen s.v.p.) Projects need reliable steering data Improve efficiency! Building a Data Foundation | Why

(Leeg, niet verwijderen s.v.p.) Improve tender estimation to avoid unnecessary costs Improve efficiency! Building a Data Foundation | Why

(Leeg, niet verwijderen s.v.p.) Define and empower data owners Improve efficiency! Building a Data Foundation | Why

(Leeg, niet verwijderen s.v.p.) Decrease total cost of ownership of data Improve efficiency! Building a Data Foundation | Why

(Leeg, niet verwijderen s.v.p.) Discover new opportunities! Improve efficiency! Building a Data Foundation | Why

(Leeg, niet verwijderen s.v.p.) The solution? Build solid foundation and unlock existing potential for analytics Get rid of the poop trains Solution Building a Data Foundation | Why

( Building a Data Foundation Why What How

( Current situation: dispersed DIY Building a Data Foundation | What Spokes • DIY mentality to new solutions Insufficient standardization in tools and methods Familiarity over best practices • Poor data quality and accessibility Dispersed data cleansing and sharing • “Data scientists in disguise” Hub Data & Analytics team Spoke Business team Spoke Business team Spoke Business team Spoke Business team Spoke Business team

( To-be situation: build the hub between the spokes Building a Data Foundation | What Hub • Guidelines, standards and way-of-working • Facilitate self-service • Create data communities • Don’t centralize all analytics! • But, each spoke has different needs Spokes • Autonomy based on maturity • Use self-service tools to leverage domain expertise • Business driven Hub Enterprise Data & Analytics Spoke Business team Spoke Business team Spoke Business team Spoke Business team Spoke Business team Grey area of responsibilities between data, technology and business. Analytics translators focus on bridging this gap.

( ▪ Goal: Get in control to efficiently leverage data. ▪ Vision: What does a good data foundation look like? Building a Data Foundation | What “All data at Van Oord is stored, found, interpreted and used reliably by everybody that has the proper authorization” Requires data to be catalogued, described and owned Requires easy to use storage options Data value creation needs a standardized way of working Requires capabilities to guarantee data integrity, reliability, quality Requires ability to share with clients, regulators, staff, project and applications Requires security by design Requires a increase in data maturity in all data domains Platforms CONNECTING DATA Governance IMPLEMENT GOVERNANCE Products ACCELERATE INGENUITY

( Building a Data Foundation Why What How

( Composition of the data hub Building a Data Foundation | How Data & Analytics Platforms Products Governance Reporting Team Data Science Team Analytics Engineering Team DATA ACADEMY Data Platform Team Data Governance Team

( Phasing the approach Building a Data Foundation | How Business intelligence Advanced analytics Artificial intelligence Generative AI In 2023, we start here… …such that in 2026, we’ll be here

( Building a Data Foundation Why What How Wrap up

( ▪ Both relief and grief ▪ Centralisation vs decentralisation ▪ Experimentation vs structure ▪ Expectations vs reality 🡪 Building/repairing a foundation takes time 🡪 We’re not there yet Challenges Wrap up

(Leeg, niet verwijderen s.v.p.) Key takeaways Wrap Up Centralize the how and decentralize the what A solid data foundation means tailoring platforms, products, and governance to your organization Identify poop trains and fix the fundamentals (ask around for common grievances and don’t try to reinvent the wheel)

(Leeg, niet verwijderen s.v.p.) No more poop trains! Dubai and Van Oord are trusted partners Present day Dubai

(Leeg, niet verwijderen s.v.p.) Let’s stay in touch! Van Oord Head Office Schaardijk 211, 3063 NH Rotterdam [email protected] Netherlands: 088 8260000 International: +31 88 8260000 www.vanoord.com LinkedIn Medium