Karel De Vriendt is the IDABC Head of Unit in DIGIT. After having obtained a degree in nuclear engineering and a post-graduate degree in informatics, he worked 7 years in the private industry (as a software engineer) before joining the European Commission. Within the Commission he worked as a project officer for what is now the Information Society and Media DG and then spent 12 years in various operational IT functions. He has been involved in the introduction of electronic mail within the Commission - the connection of the Commission network with the Internet - and later became responsible for user support and IT training. His last function before joining the IDABC unit has been head of unit responsible for the development of a numbe…