Jo Steyaert

Makes a difference by…

My biggest asset is my ability to connect the dots between things that seemingly unrelated to each other being united can sometimes make the difference. Throughout my career, I have often been able to come up with new insights, ideas or solutions based on input from our research projects, scientific literature, customers and several other sources. This is one of the reasons why I love my job: to get non-obvious insights by processing the collected information in a creative way.

Wants to make a difference in…

Actually, I would like to make a difference in the relationship between governments, organized groups or corporations and those who are part of an active society (as a citizen, a group or a corporation) in policy making, regulation and implementation. In order to do so, we would need a mix of knowledge and opinions.

Made a difference together with…

There are a few projects I am particularly proud of because we really managed in cooperation with the client to make a difference. First, the research project Youca (http://www.youca.be) where I carried out a stakeholder analysis and helped them to determine a 5 years strategy. Later having joined their board of directors, I could even better support their strategy. Secondly, the eGovernment Benchmark study on behalf of the European Commission where, partly helped by our input, more than 30 countries (Member States and others) adapted and improved their strategy.

Toughest difference to make…

One of the most difficult but yet funniest times to make a difference was when my 5-year-old nephew interrupted me during a strategic study presentation to a client, asking me some questions via chat about a …video game, much to the audience’s amusement.