First things first

Regional development companies were once established, at the initiative of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and regional authorities, to solve the economic disadvantage of a region. In the meantime, the focus has shifted to strengthening the regional economy in general. There are now nine ROMs, not all recognizable by their name. For example, Anton Duisterwinkel is a senior business developer for the high-tech industry and works at the South Holland ROM, which bears the name InnovationQuarter. Some ROMs have been around for a long time; the youngest only started in 2021. Each ROM has grown from the economic uniqueness of its own region and they are therefore different from each other. In recent years, the ROMs have increasingly worked together.

Collaborating at the NTS

KIA ST brings together government, knowledge institutions and the business community around the development of key technologies. The NTS is an integral part of this and prioritizes ten key technologies. These make a major contribution to the Netherlands' earning capacity, are important for social challenges and national security and enable Dutch technological leadership. The NTS formulates ambitions for each technology; it is up to the field to formulate and schedule the necessary actions to realize these ambitions.

Lam is closely involved in the NTS from her role within EZ. 'The NTS was published by EZ in January 2024 and we are driving this from our role within KIA ST. We also look ourselves at whether and how our instruments can be focused on the NTS. But as a government, we cannot and do not want to determine the content of the action agendas, which is why they have been explicitly placed with the field', she says. 'The good news is that parties recognize the importance of the NTS and therefore want to do something with it. We have created a nice momentum with this. The challenge is to coordinate this well and that is done from KIA ST, of which EZ is a part. From our systemic role we have asked the ROMs to play a role in getting the innovative SMEs involved.'

The benefits of a congruent approach are expected to be great.

This ties in nicely with the objectives of the ROMs. ‘Our target group is mainly the innovative SMEs’, says Duisterwinkel. According to him, the large companies know how to find their way to knowledge partners, but it is precisely the spectrum of the SMEs that benefits from these initiatives. The ROMs want to involve the SMEs more in the technological developments and at the same time gain insight into which technologies are being developed within those companies and whether they can be used more broadly. The ROMs and the regional economy also benefit from this.

NTS action agenda

Lam has only recently started working at EZ. ‘My experience in both high-tech innovation during my PhD research in applied physics, and project and stakeholder management in the financial sector, come together in my current role and have proven to be extremely valuable’, says Lam. In order to arrive at the action agendas, parties from the field are asked to gather around each NTS technology. ‘Together they formulate activities that they must and want to undertake together in order to realise the NTS ambitions. KIA ST plays a coordinating role in this, without directing too much in terms of content, but still maintaining the overview. In mobilising the field, each party has its own role to fulfil.’ Commissioned by EZ, the ROMs are working on a Regional NTS Strengthening Plan. ‘By thinking in terms of value chains, they bring in an entrepreneurial perspective that is complementary to the innovation perspective from the perspective of technology development. The benefits of a congruent approach are expected to be great.’

Accelerating innovation

When asked about the status of the plans, Duisterwinkel is positive. ‘We started after the summer. Representatives from each ROM are involved and we regularly coordinate. We have agreed that the ROMs will not focus solely on the technology, because companies sell products and services. The further development and application of that technology takes place in value chains and those are precisely the ones that are interesting for the collaboration.’ These value chains concern a limited segment of end customers, end suppliers and innovative suppliers. Innovations are created faster and more effectively if those groups work together in a value chain.

The reactions from the market are enthusiastic, according to Duisterwinkel and Lam. The approach via value chains is warmly welcomed by companies. By focusing on products and services, fifteen value chains have been chosen, in which at least multiple ROMs are involved. These are value chains where extensive international market growth can be expected. Think of protein transition, robotics for agriculture and horticulture, and quantum hardware and software. Different combinations of regions participate per value chain and for each value chain one or often more of the ten NTS technologies are important. This seems to optimize the cross-pollination, because within those technologies too, people work together. Duisterwinkel: 'We have set up working groups that determine the precise scope per value chain, collect information and develop plans, together with companies and other stakeholders.'

Ecosystems

This initiative from the ROMs is part of the larger initiative to draw up the NTS action agendas. For this reason, not only are discussions held with entrepreneurs, but also with other stakeholders such as provinces, universities and knowledge institutions. The proposed activities in the Regional NTS Strengthening Plan will be coordinated with KIA ST. This will also determine who else can play a role in the collaboration and consortia will be set up. Lam states that more is intended than just getting innovations and collaboration off the ground: ‘It is also about building ecosystems that do not yet exist around specific technologies. In the semiconductor sector, people know how to find each other. But within imaging technologies, for example, there are considerable cross-pollination opportunities for the Netherlands. By bringing the parties on the technology axis together, people can exchange knowledge and look together at new possibilities and areas of application. Although we explicitly ask the field to work this out, EZ is closely involved because of our systemic role. I see it as the ultimate form of public-private collaboration.’

Duisterwinkel and Lam call on all possible stakeholders to join the discussion and to take action. ‘Companies can expect involvement from EZ. The elaboration of the action agendas will be the subject of the NTS letter to Parliament in the third quarter of 2025’, says Lam. ‘Someone from EZ will be involved in every technology, we really see it as an innovation coalition.’ Duisterwinkel: ‘In July of this year, we want to deliver a regional NTS reinforcement plan that details what we need to do in the coming years for each of the 15 value chains, for us as ROMs and for other stakeholders – that is precisely why we like to talk to companies.’