With a background outside IT, Stijn Verhoeff started his first assignment within the IT team at North Sea Port. What initially began as an assignment focused on analysing and improving business processes quickly evolved into something broader. The focus gradually shifted towards establishing control mechanisms that ensure the port’s digitalisation develops in a strategic and secure manner.
Working in a Cross-Border Port
North Sea Port stretches from Ghent to Vlissingen and encompasses a wide range of industries, including offshore, automotive, food and chemicals. As such, it is a cross-border port where a great deal happens on a daily basis. The merger between the Belgian and Dutch ports in 2018 significantly expanded the port organisation almost overnight. At the same time, this created the challenge of enabling effective collaboration between different cultures. Although the port areas are geographically close, this proximity is not always reflected in day-to-day operations.
For North Sea Port, 2025 marked the completion of the old strategy and the development of a new course: Impact 2030. An important part of the previous strategy was ensuring that the digitalisation of the port organisation progressed in a structured and controlled manner. As a business analyst within the IT team, this became one of Stijn’s key focus areas.
Enterprise Architecture as a Foundation
Developments in IT are moving rapidly. Not only is the number of digital solutions increasing at a fast pace, but the risks of digital disruption are also growing. Due to the increasing dependence on digital systems, it is essential to put appropriate safeguards in place.
Within his assignment, Stijn contributed by developing and implementing an Enterprise Architecture. An Enterprise Achitecture is both a discipline and a product. As a discipline, Enterprise Architecture continuously tests the business strategy against choices related to IT infrastructure, data layers, cybersecurity and information security. As a product,
Enterprise Architecture provides insight into the network of interdependencies, enabling the impact of changes in the IT landscape to be assessed more quickly and effectively.
Organisation-Wide Impact as a Business Analyst
In addition to his role within the IT team, Stijn also took an organisation-wide perspective. Together with Venturn colleagues Amber Prinsen and Joanna Thimme, he worked on a process optimisation strategy affecting all processes within North Sea Port. The aim was to increase the organisation’s process maturity, creating lasting impact even after the assignment ended.
By raising awareness of the benefits of process optimisation, broad support emerged throughout the organisation. The positive responses ultimately led to the development of a framework that the Organisation Development department can deploy for both managers and employees. This framework supports and relieves them in improving processes.
Stijn experienced his work as a business analyst primarily as a way of discussing bottlenecks that had often existed for some time but had not been explicitly identified. By talking to employees from all departments and mapping out processes together, clarity was quickly achieved. The explicit assignment of responsibilities proved to be an important step in this process.
In addition, all knowledge about processes was made centrally available. This improved the continuity of the port authority, captured valuable knowledge and prevented misunderstandings. It forms a solid basis for new colleagues and acts as a backup when knowledge is temporarily lost. In this way, active efforts were made to manage knowledge.
What Stijn has Learned
During his ten months as a business analyst at North Sea Port, Stijn experienced what it means to empower people. The effect of a short conversation, taking a moment to consider what someone does and why, often proved to be greater than expected. Helping to solve other people’s problems made the work rewarding and motivating and encouraged him to bring about as many positive changes within the organisation as possible.
In addition, the maritime sector was largely new to him. Precisely the combination of working at a port organisation and being active across a broad range of domains made North Sea Port an ideal starting point for the traineeship. It provided a comprehensive view of the different facets of a port organisation.
Looking Ahead
After successfully completing this first assignment, Stijn is looking ahead to what the coming year within the traineeship will bring. His experience at North Sea Port has motivated him to focus further on solving more complex challenges and supporting management-related issues within organisations.
About the Venturn Young Professional Programme
The Venturn Young Professional Programme is a two-year traineeship for talented individuals who want to develop within the maritime and logistics sector. Trainees combine challenging assignments at leading organisations with professional training, personal development and a close-knit community of fellow trainees. In this way, they gradually build a meaningful career in a dynamic environment.
