Netherlands emerging as top tech hub in Europe

In 2018, the Dutch government launched the Dutch Digitalisation Strategy aimed at ensuring everyone in the Netherlands has the right digital skills to enable it to become Europe’s digital leader. It certainly looks to be paying off as the Netherlands is now one of the best countries for tech companies. You may ask, how has this been achieved? It’s a combination of a great digital infrastructure, the innovative and open culture, R&D incentives and a strong focus of the Dutch government on developments in tech. As consumers, the Dutch lead the way in embracing new digital applications, whilst being a tech-savvy, multilingual workforce so it means that businesses that invest in the technology and IT sector thrive.

Cyber Security

The Netherlands is a leading cyber security hub in Europe. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) encourages cooperation between the government and businesses to enhance the digital resilience of the Dutch society. This strong ecosystem and the excellent digital infrastructure has attracted many international security agencies such as  Europol and NATO to establish their operations here.

The Netherlands is also home to Europe’s largest security cluster, The Hague Security Delta (HSD) consisting of 300 public and private organizations working together on cyber security. It means that companies such as FOX IT, Thales and Palo Alto have also been drawn to invest in the Netherlands’ technological environment.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Companies active in AI, such as ABB, Brain Corp and Wonderkind are establishing roots in the Netherlands’ economy as their testing ground in this fast-growing industry. The Dutch recognise that AI is a key driver of opportunity in the 21st century. In 2019, the Dutch government launched the Strategic Action Plan for AI to focus on the societal and economic opportunities of AI, advance AI knowledge through R&D and human capital, and safeguard the public by establishing ethical guidelines in AI. Additionally, the NL AI Coalition unites government, industry and society to capitalise on AI developments in the Netherlands.

Collaboration

Collaboration is at the heart of the Netherlands’ success story. For example, smart farming and AgTech are making the Dutch AgriFood sector more sustainable. The Dutch gaming industry is a leader in simulation and ‘serious’ gaming – digital games designed for acquiring specialised skills. MedTech and eHealth have become important subsectors of the Dutch life sciences and health industry and technology also supports the Netherlands’ chemicals industry and high-tech sector in building a sustainable, circular economy.

IT giants are choosing the Netherlands

Tech companies from around the world find success across different activities and locations in the Dutch IT industry. IT companies of all sizes tap into the Netherlands’ technological environment whether start-ups or multinationals. IT giants such as IBM, Microsoft, Google, NTT, and Oracle have chosen the Netherlands for their European HQs, customer service centres and R&D facilities.

Work still to be done to reach full potential

So, it’s clear that Dutch tech is a thriving industry, however there are still clear areas for improvement.

Deep tech investment: Compared to other European start-up ecosystems, the Netherlands lags behind in deep tech financing. Although the Netherlands ranks highly in global scientific research, more effort needs to be made to accelerate innovation, knowledge transfer from universities, knowledge institutions to spin-offs or start-ups.

Early stage funding: Despite attracting and increasing large tech investments, early stage deals in the Netherlands have been decreasing year on year, So, for start-ups in the earliest and most hazardous phase of their business, this is a major hurdle.

Access to talent: This is one of the major issues for Dutch start-ups. The global tech ecosystem is competitive, and companies in the Netherlands face a constant battle to attract and retain top talent. The Netherlands should be made more attractive to national and international talent by adopting competitive financial rules for share options.  

Overall the tech ecosystem in the Netherlands is in a very healthy state; there are so many companies that have the chance to be very successful here. But if it wants to remain ahead of the game, meeting these challenges is essential.