It's up to you. I don't want to scare you, force you or put too much pressure on you. That wouldn't be appropriate. We hardly know each other. But the reason I'm here is because of you. You and the challenge which we'll tackle together.

Ten years ago, I partnered with CIONET to reassure enterprises that Open Source wasn't for hippies. As a marketing manager at Red Hat, I learned fast that trust moves people, not slide decks. A few years later, the world went into lockdown, and we needed each other even more. We ate our fancy lunch in front of the camera and figured things out together. And by facilitating the first Belgian CIONET Women Circle, I not only learned that, during a lice outbreak, they'll shave their kids' heads just to get to work, but that they fiercely resemble a women's soccer team. They fight hard for what they believe in, and when they get hurt, they lend each other a hand, get up and go harder. The strength of this community is trust. When it's tough, when we're in doubt, we have each other's back and kick each other's ass. That is what we need today, more than ever.

During our recent Summer Fest, Katja Schipperheijn said we live in 'liminal times' (a transitional state between two different places, times, or conditions). We face multiple, major disruptions at the same time. There are more unknowns than knowns. And despite the definition of 'liminal', which seems to suggest a beginning and an end, we might need to get used to this reality for decades to come. When everything which worked yesterday doesn't work anymore tomorrow, when statements made by experts sound more like experiments and when a 3-year plan feels as surreal as the advice from a fortune teller, where do you find solutions? In the collective intelligence, carefully built by a community of trusted peers. That is why I am here.

This is where we build the answers, together. How we can thrive in uncertainty, how AI can elevate us - not just our bills - and how we can architect organisations that don't collapse the moment the big bad wolf huffs and puffs. I'm here, in this new role as Executive Director, together with an incredibly passionate team, to get you out of the panic room and into one where you find the courage to speak up and do great things. I will poke, dig, challenge and push you outside of your comfort zone. That might be uncomfortable. That's why we'll do it together.

In the coming weeks, I'm keeping my agenda open for conversations with you. Let me know what you need, what you expect, what you can offer, so we can turn CIONET into more than a friendly community- a space where European organisations actually move, not just meet.