Interview Amir Niknam, innovation advisor at the National Police: “There are quite a few smart people doing smart things. Just not together yet.”

Water quality specialists, toxicologists, researchers, data scientists, AI experts and students. They all attended the hackathon in Utrecht, organised by the National Police and the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT), in collaboration with RIVM, as representatives of drinking water companies, universities, start-ups, water boards and knowledge institutes.

Participants worked on various objectives at 10 different tables. The overarching object was to develop a method that would facilitate the detection of water contamination and subsequent enforcement measures. “We looked at toxic pressure, an indicator that RIVM uses to determine the severity of contamination,” explains Amir Niknam, innovation advisor for the police and one of the initiators of the event. “If this pressure is too high somewhere and there are substances in the water that shouldn’t be there, how do you find the source of the discharge, the company responsible, and which actions should you take next, which legal entities are responsible?”

If water quality standards are breached, or a violation happens, Niknam believes that automatic notifications with an action attached to them should be sent automatically wherever possible. So that contamination is stopped and sanctions can be imposed. Instead of the current random sampling and a case-by-case investigation into the source of the contamination. “We’ve looked at data science techniques to help us,” he says. He believes it is good to know which parties are the biggest polluters. “Enforcement agencies like the police, water managers and the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate are very busy. When choices have to be made, you want to know where to start.”

Role for the police

Niknam realises that most people will not immediately associate water quality with the police. “I’d like to change that.” Back in 2017, he and an informal group of colleagues started to look at the subject of sustainability. “We felt that the police had a role to play here. There are countless victims of environmental crime and contamination, but they are often invisible.” He became increasingly interested in this topic because of various studies. For example, according to the Lung Foundation Netherlands, air contamination kills 33 people in the Netherlands every day. “I feel a duty to right wrongs like this for future generations.”

“To me, the climate crisis is the biggest security crisis of this century,” says Niknam, who was also at the Extinction Rebellion demonstrations against fossil fuel subsidies on the A12 motorway. Not to arrest demonstrators but as a sympathiser. He says that, although some colleagues do not share his views, the police now consider environmental safety (as well as diversity, inclusion and digital transformation) one of today’s major transformation challenges. “It’s included in our policy documents. We, as the police, can protect the public in respect of this theme too. Especially if the law is being broken.”

Prepare to be surprised

The police had already had positive experiences with hackathons: bringing together different parties to work together on a specific topic. Human trafficking and fugitives, for example. “It’s very energising and has proved to be effective,” Niknam says. “When faced with complex issues, prepare to be surprised by the results you can achieve if very smart people work together.”

The idea this time was to do something in respect of climate or environmental safety. After discussions with all kinds of parties, including the Public Prosecution Service, the idea arose to focus on water quality. “Water quality in the Netherlands is under pressure,” Niknam (whose role involves a wide range of subjects) learnt. “It will be a key issue in the years ahead. Because of our need to comply with legislation and also because of the contamination that’s happening.”

Amir Niknam, Innovation Advisor at the National Police (Photo: Eelkje Colmjon, Eelk.nl)

In the LinkedIn invitation to the hackathon, the police wrote: “We use our authority to ‘bring to book’ people and companies that are jeopardising the safe and healthy future of this country. Tackling water contamination, for example; we are targeting criminals and protecting nature. By tackling environmental crime, we are doing our bit to make society sustainable.”

Online platform

Niknam reflects on the success of the hackathon. “Because of the amazing ideas that emerged and the contacts we made; we even found even some evidence of criminal offences.” The participants worked incredibly hard all day, he adds. “I think very few people were there because they had to be.” No-one had time to down tools for a while – a ping-pong table and a racing game had been set up for them to use, amongst other things.

Four participants were from the company Future Facts Conclusion. After the event, they added their findings to an online platform: in the form of a map of the Netherlands showing the toxic pressure per location. This proved challenging because of the sheer quantity of data, some of which was missing, had not been systematically collected or stored or was inconsistent. Niknam hopes this platform  (the code can be accessed by anyone  on GIT[1]) will be developed further and be made available to the public. “Making it easy for us to see what the current status is, where harmful discharges might be coming from and what needs to be done. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”

Take over the baton

Many parties in the water world felt that the hackathon had come just at the right time. Especially because of the authority that the police brought to the subject. Niknam and his colleagues, about 10 people, organised the hackathon in their spare time and the police have no plans for a follow up to the event.

However, Niknam does hope that another party, a government agency, will take over the baton and continue to address the water-quality issue. “Someone that will take the lead – in collaboration with other organisations and companies, of course. There’s certainly a need for it.” He does not think time and money are the problem. “Definitely not. This will save time and money in the long run. Vision is more important.”

Cooperation tools

So what does Niknam feel needs to happen? “Just as with many other issues, I see a lot of people working hard on this issue,” he says. “But also that it’s difficult to make significant progress. And that’s because certain basic preconditions aren’t being met.” He gives the example of the absence of one central place with up-to-date information about the discharge permits issued. “I’m glad steps are now being taken to create this.”

Niknam also mentions the many organisations involved with water: central government, provinces, municipalities, water boards, environmental services, drinking water companies, knowledge institutes, etc. “The landscape is very fragmented. I would like to see the introduction of cooperation tools, so we can exchange data and communicate better.” He would also like to see a common architecture and agreed standards, making it possible to coordinate data from different parties (about permits, for example). In this way, each organisation could continue to use its own systems without the need to enter data twice.

Modernising the polder model

Niknam does not believe the current organisational structure is optimal either: “Sometimes, it even hinders us: many people have packed schedules, inboxes are full, multiple meetings are planned and there is an information overload. That puts the brakes on creativity.”

But what can we do to change this situation? “I think it’s time to modernise our polder model; something that we’re really good at,” he responds. “Go back to the drawing board and rethink what cooperation should involve. What can we do to strengthen each other?” He suggests dedicating one day a week to working on this. And set up a joint platform on water quality that people can contact with the questions they have, even if they work for different organisations and are in different parts of the Netherlands.

Niknam thinks the hackathon was a good start. “I was a little taken aback by the talent there. “There are quite a few smart people doing smart things. Just not together yet; so, that’s something we need to invest in.”

[1] https://github.com/FutureFacts/politie-watervervuilers

Text: Thessa Lageman, Onder Woorden

Translation: KERN Rotterdam

This interview is published in the RIWA Annual Report 2024 The Meuse