Planets is delighted to announce that Bram van der Werf has been appointed as Executive Director of the Open Planets Foundation. Bram will take up his appointment on 1st June 2010. 

As Executive Director of the newly established Open Planets Foundation, Bram will work closely with the Board of Directors and members to define and deliver the organisation’s strategic plan. He will be responsible for ensuring that the Foundation maintains and further develops the innovative digital preservation services that members need, and also for delivering a long-term plan to ensure the sustainability of these services.

Regarding his appointment, Bram said: “I am delighted to have joined the Open Planets Foundation at this exciting time, and am pleased to be able to contribute to the important and growing area of digital preservation. I was first exposed to the Planets approach when I previously acted as a reviewer of the Planets Project for the European Commission. This project has achieved notable successes and provides a solid platform on which to build tools and services to meet the needs of the Digital Preservation Community. I look forward to using my experience to help the Open Planets Foundation develop its strategy and services, and to working with OPF members to support their digital preservation needs.”

Bram brings extensive technical and management experience to his role at the Open Planets Foundation. He was the Technical Director at Europeana, responsible for moving it from a project and prototype basis to a robust production quality service. Prior to his appointment at Europeana he was a management consultant expert/advisor on Software Development Best Practices for Open Source and Collaborative Technologies. He has previously held Director and Senior Management positions in the Software and Services Industry with companies such as Rational Software, Progress Software and IBM Application Management Services. Bram has many years experience in managing large scale projects and organizations on the edge of users, technology practitioners, and in implementing state of the art technologies.