The government will continue the cooperation between companies, knowledge institutions and governments through the mission-driven innovation policy. At the proposal of Minister Adriaansens of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK), the Council of Ministers has decided to tighten up the innovation objectives. From 2023, these will focus on 5 missions (goals) in the field of energy transition, circular economy, health & care, agriculture/water & food and safety that will ensure social impact and economic growth.
In the coming years, the government itself will invest more than € 20 billion, via the National Growth Fund, for example, directly in innovation and the associated (digital) key technologies such as photonics, artificial intelligence, robotics and nanotechnology. For more direction in the use of key technologies, the government will be publishing a National Technology Strategy this autumn.
Minister Adriaansens: “More focus and more funding leads to more innovation. We can’t wait for that. Innovation is now needed to meet challenges such as reducing our dependency, tackling raw material scarcity and security, and accelerating both sustainability and digitization.”
Reassessment of mission-driven innovation policy objectives
- Energy transition: the Netherlands climate neutral in 2050;
- Circular economy: the Netherlands fully circular in 2050;
- Health and care: the Dutch will live 5 years longer in good health and there will be 30% fewer health differences between socio-economic groups in 2040;
- Agriculture, water and food: A vital rural area and resilient nature in a climate-proof Netherlands. Water and soil are guiding. The agricultural and food system is sustainable and healthy and the delta is safe;
- Security: The Netherlands is safe and resilient against external threats and subversive crime, both in the physical environment and in the digital domain.
The 5 missions follow the government vision on innovation and impact presented at the end of 2022. Further elaboration will follow in the coming period as a basis for the new Knowledge and Innovation Agendas (KIAs). A new Knowledge and Innovation Covenant (KIC) will also be concluded with the business community, the knowledge sector and other government authorities. In recent years, public and private investments in this covenant amounted to approximately € 5 billion annually.
Regulations for innovative entrepreneurs, researchers and scientists
Dutch expenditure (public and private) on research and development currently amounts to 2.3% of gross domestic product (GDP). The government’s objective is to increase this expenditure by 30% to 3.0 percent of GDP, without the private share falling.
In addition to achieving specific objectives in the mission-driven innovation policy, the Ministry of Economic Affairs is therefore also investing in extra regular resources. This is ensured, for example, by the indexation of the WBSO scheme with an extra budget of €50 million from 2023, which will increase further in the coming years. With the WBSO, entrepreneurs can reduce their costs for research and development.
There are also investments in strengthening applied research facilities (€500 million), practice-oriented research (€100 million) and the large-scale scientific infrastructure (€500 million). Moreover, there are plenty of financing options (more than € 1 billion) available for innovative startups and scale-ups.
Source: Rijksoverheid.nl
