As President of the Swedish National Committee (NC), a fairly typical and successful NC which fully exemplifies the IEC structure, Danemar is uniquely familiar with the economies of small to medium sized operations which are the mainstay of the IEC community. Having said that, Danemar immediately points out that he never ceases to be amazed at how very different every NC is when it comes to set-up, influence and income and how NCs represent national interests in the IEC or work with governments. “No two are the same”, he comments.
Danemar has already met with his successor, Jo Cops, who will take over the role of IEC Treasurer from 1 January 2018. He reports having had a similar meeting with his predecessor, which he found very useful. The Treasurer not only supervises the IEC budget and participates in meetings and events but also chairs the IEC pension fund. Danemar found this fun and of particular interest. He also felt that there was some synergy between the pension fund and the IEC itself. Often the information that was prepared for managing the pension fund also proved to be useful in other situations.
When asked what has impressed him most over the past six years, Danemar pointed out how digitization and new technologies have fundamentally changed how we do things. “We used to talk about challenges in standardization. Now it is no longer about products, it’s about systems and processes. I am pleased with how we have set up the systems approach, which is going very well, and how the IEC has held its position. In my opinion we are moving at the right speed: not too fast and not too slow. In general we are ready when the community and the market need our work. Overall we have been successful.”
Danemar also underlined that over the past few years the role of the Treasurer has changed significantly. The budget process as well as the new finance and auditing committee (FinCom and AudCom) structures and the reactivation of the Sales Advisory Committee (SAG) have all substantially increased the interest and involvement of IEC Members.
Danemar also shared how he has loved working with the people at IEC Central Office: “…there are so many friendly and positive people with competent input. They always listened to what I had to say and were wide open to all my suggestions. Working with them has been a joy”.