To ensure that implementation knowledge is more widely used in the Netherlands, the NIC (Netherlands Implementation Collective) was launched during the first European Implementation Event (EIE). According to Secretary-General of the Dutch Ministry of Health, Erik Gerritsen, the use of implementation knowledge can provide solutions for a large number of challenges in healthcare, such as resistance to change and the looming shortage of health care workers.

During the EIE, special attention will be given to professionals - researchers and practitioners - who have recently started working in the implementation domain. Based on interviews with three early career professionals, we discuss what drives professionals to get started with implementation, what they encounter and what training and support they need.

Jet Bussemaker is one of the keynote speakers at the European Implementation Event (EIE). With her interdisciplinary approach, she wants to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and policy design and implementation, and the way in which professionals deal with policy goals in concrete situations.

David Chambers is Deputy Director of Implementation Science at the Office of the Director of the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). During his keynote address at EIE, he will talk about tracing progress in healthcare implementation research and current opportunities and priorities for further work in this field.

In his talk, Paul Iske will introduce a framework for value creation by accepting and learning from (Brilliant) Failures. As all researchers and innovators know, failing is not only inevitable, but also an essential learning process. But are we allowed to fail? And what is the impact of culture on how we deal with failure?

In 2018, during a round table discussion at the Nordic Implementation Conference, it was decided it was time to organize a truly European implementation conference. That event will become reality this year: the European Implementation Event (EIE) will take place on 27 and 28 May. An interview with EIE organizers Bianca Albers, Associate Director at the Center for Evidence and Implementation, and Pauline Goense, Implementation staff member at ZonMw.