Linda - Project Manager R&D and Innovation Statistics

Linda (in a Cuban Salsa café), Project Manager R&D and Innovation Statistics, 6,831 respondents completing the R&D survey, 173 variables to measure the innovative power of companies, 73,920 lines of code for calculation of the figures, 4 data deliveries to the European Union and going dancing in Cuba twice a year. Are you ready to join us?
What I like most about my job? Doing my own programming and working with data. And I can do that here, while also leading my own project team. We research the innovative strength
of Dutch companies. For example, how much money do they spend on R&D? The data we need to answer that question come mainly from our own survey. We analyse the data and I report the
results, both in our own StatLine databank and to the European Union. Our figures are an important source of information for policy-makers, both in the Netherlands and beyond.

I can’t think of any other organisation where I’d rather be working right now than CBS. This is where all the data about the Netherlands come together, and I could continue my personal development here forever. Besides, I don’t think anywhere else would give me the chance to combine work and private life as well as I can here. I’m a keen dancer: salsa, rumba, son, afro – really any dance style from Cuba. I teach dance three hours a week, and of course I also do my own practice and training.

During my Master’s degree I did an internship at CBS for my graduation project. When I was offered the chance to stay, I said yes straight away. I’ve been working here for seven years now, and I’ve never looked back.

CBS may seem dull from the outside, but in fact it’s very dynamic and offers a lot of challenges and opportunities to work with other people. There’s no other way to work: good statistics are a collective effort.

I adore Cuba. I usually go there twice a year, to visit friends and do a lot of dancing.