Department of Mobility and Public Works

About the Department of Mobility and Public Works

The Department of Mobility and Public Works (Departement Mobiliteit en Openbare Werken, or DMOW) is a Flemish government agency responsible for the sustainable, livable and safe movement of people and goods throughout Flanders. Beyond planning mobility policy, DMOW also develops and maintains the infrastructure that makes that movement possible: roads, waterways, ports, and public transport networks. In short, they are experts in movement, and as a public organisation, they hold themselves to a high standard of accountability: every euro spent must demonstrably make a difference.

Discover how threon assisted DMOW:

Watch the full interview with Edith Leblanc, Strategic Portfolio Manager at DMOW:

The collaboration between DMOW & threon

The challenge
The Department of Mobility and Public Works had been building its portfolio management practice for five years. During that time, the organisation grew in complexity, and with it came a growing recognition that the existing approach had reached its limits. The challenge was not just to improve processes, but to ensure that the right things were being done in the right way: a clear framework for determining what truly makes a difference and what does not.

As a public organisation, DMOW operates under a particular obligation: every euro planned for spending must be used effectively. That accountability demands both strategic clarity and a rigorous portfolio management discipline. Doing things right and doing the right things — that is the essence of portfolio management, and DMOW needed to take meaningful steps forward on both fronts.

Why threon
When DMOW began looking for a partner, Strategic Portfolio Manager Edith Leblanc had a clear criterion in mind. She was not looking for a consultant who would deliver a report with a list of recommendations and step away. She wanted a partner who would genuinely work alongside the team, take on implementation together, and leave the organisation fully capable of continuing independently afterwards.

threon made that commitment explicit from the very first proposal, and it was the deciding factor.

The collaboration
Threon brought deep, relevant experience in portfolio management within public sector organisations, which meant DMOW did not have to start from scratch or reinvent the wheel. Together, they developed portfolio tools and processes tailored specifically to DMOW’s context — not generic frameworks, but solutions built for the reality of a large Flemish government department.

What made the collaboration distinctive was the combination of close partnership and practical flexibility. Throughout DMOW’s growth journey, the organisation encountered different situations requiring flexibility and responsiveness. threon adapted accordingly, ensuring that everything developed together was immediately usable — not theoretical deliverables for a later stage, but tools that worked from day one.

The results
The impact has been tangible. DMOW moved from what had felt like an overly complex portfolio process to a situation where inefficiencies have been eliminated, the work has returned to the essentials, and portfolio management now clearly demonstrates added value within the organisation.

The journey has shown that a great deal is possible when the right partner is at your side. Edith Leblanc’s advice to organisations in a similar situation: take small steps, take action, and above all, surround yourself with partners who can genuinely help you move forward.

Rather than a one-off engagement, the collaboration between DMOW and threon has built a lasting foundation: a portfolio management practice that is fit for purpose, owned by the organisation, and set up to keep delivering value well into the future.

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What our other clients say

By partnering with threon, the Belgian Cancer Registry gained strategic clarity and clearly defined roles and responsibilities, enabling stronger collaboration across teams in an increasingly complex organisation.

By partnering with threon, Hasselt University developed a clear digital roadmap and structured project collaboration, enabling a smoother digital transformation with stronger alignment between ICT teams and end users.

Working together with threon, Vigo refined its objectives and sharpened its growth ambitions.

Securex worked with threon to embed cultural change into their transformation, creating a clear framework and roadmap to anchor new behaviours across the organisation.

Through threon’s expertise, we found the project manager who met our high standards and excelled in our challenging environment. Their contribution was key to our project’s success.

Qualiphar partnered with threon to professionalize project management by developing a structured framework and training employees, resulting in more efficient project execution, better budgeting, and improved decision-making.

OQuila contacted threon to arrange training for their staff. While their engineering team possesses strong technical skills, they also serve as consultants and must collaborate closely with customers. This role requires a different skill set. To equip their team with the right skills, OQuila turned to threon for support.

BESIX Unitec partnered with threon to deliver tailored PM Fundamentals training, providing employees with practical tools and insights to enhance project management skills. The collaboration strengthened their foundation, boosting confidence and efficiency, and laid the groundwork for ongoing professional development.

Working with threon, Equans co-created an active Community of Practice for our Project Managers, benefiting from their strategic, pragmatic, and flexible approach.

Threon listened and understood what we needed, this was translated to a training proposal that suited our needs and have helped us to execute our projects even better.

Threon’s approach consists of looking carefully at the context our organization with the aim of taking it to a higher level. They don’t work with a standard process but tailor the approach to our organization.

Threon was able to think along with us. They helped us with the content and were able to offer strong trainers who can put the training into practice. Our employees are very satisfied with threon’s training courses.

Thanks to threon and their guidance Pharming was able to establish the foundation for a next level Center of Excellence.
Thanks to the focus on doing the project right, we are now able to ensure consistency throughout the project life cycle.

Threon helped us to set-up a structure of process-oriented work, we can now check initiatives against our capacity and our strategy, approved projects can be better supported and there is a clear framework for our staff.

Thanks to threon we now have a much more solid framework to determine which projects should be developed as a priority and we make much more conscious and substantiated choices. At the same time, management is now more and better informed about the impact of choices and the capacity in people and resources required.

Working with threon results in the fact that we now have a complete picture of our portfolio and that the project methodology has been integrated in our corporate culture

Thanks to threon, we have been able to take the right steps on digital level to guarantee the safety of our employees and travelers

We have a close partnership with threon, build on trust and the assurance that threon offers the right people for the job, both in consulting and in delivery

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