CW+ Premium Content/CW Benelux

The Netherlands is one of many nations that want to lure companies by flaunting their digital prowess. The country has a good national IT infrastructure, is home to the AMS-IX internet exchange, offers access to skilled IT workers and enjoys healthy digital adoption. On government and business levels, the Netherlands aspires to be a digital leader in Europe. And fulfilment of that ambition is well under way. This year, the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) showed the Netherlands as a European leader for innovation. The EIS, an instrument of the European Commission (EC), classifies member states into four groups, based on their average innovation performance. The recent EIS 2016 report identified the Netherlands as one the fastest-growing innovators. While the UK’s innovation performance is roughly on a par with the European average, the Netherlands is well above the average. “The Netherlands is, for the first time, an innovation leader instead of a follower,” tweeted the Dutch ministry of economic affairs in July. Economic ...