Since 2011, Marc Hendrikse has been involved in the top sector policy of HTSM, since 2017 as the chair of the Top Team. Among the most important achievements in that period is igniting the will to collaborate, Hendrikse says. “We found each other. And that, given the hugely fragmented constituency, is really special. It goes from aerospace to automotive to lab-on-a-chip, organ-on-a-chip, nanotechnology, semiconductor, quantum technology… it’s about technologies, it’s about applications, it’s incredibly broad. There was no umbrella hanging over it, people hardly knew each other. We started profiling ourselves under the name Holland High Tech.” Too big to grasp Holland High Tech has chosen countries like Germany, France, the United States, Japan, and China as target countries. “Together with Foreign Affairs, we have drawn up an agenda. We have now realized that it is precisely in Europe that we must maintain our independent technological base. This also requires cooperation within Europe. For example, look at the innovation cooperation that has now been established with France and Germany, resulting in cooperation on hydrogen development, lightweight materials, and emission-free transport. These are important processes and we have noticed that these countries, in particular, are now well aware of what we in the Netherlands have to offer in these areas. For photonics we are doing something similar with the American west coast, for automotive we are focusing not only on the aforementioned countries but also on Michigan and for nano on Japan. It is precisely this logic of content that is important, otherwise, it will be too big to grasp.” Being complementary It’s also about showing where you are complementary, Hendrikse says. Even for parts of the industry where our country is not the biggest player, as is the case around Hydrogen projects. “For example, the Netherlands is very strong in thin-film technology and optomechatronics, and we could develop new technologies in the field of electrolysis that complement the expertise that the Germans have to offer in this area. By doing it together and by investing serious money into this, you can make great strides, together.” What helps, Hendrikse says, is that our country is very good at combining different technologies. “The process may be familiar, but you have to come up with something new. To realize that, that’s in our culture. We are the least hierarchical country in the world, and that works both vertically and horizontally. The implementer is in close contact with the inventor, but that also works between sectors, partly because it is accepted that each of the specialists involved is stubborn enough to think that they can solve the other’s problem. That leads to systems engineering, in which we are unbeatable. It is precisely this systems engineering that you need because in many of the areas that are important now the existing systems no longer work. But if you need another subsystem, you have to have the courage to look at the whole system. You’re not going to solve it by just looking at the separate elements from it. And whether it’s emission-free transport, the hydrogen transition, or a lab-on-a-chip, you have to combine technologies that didn’t know each other before. For example, by connecting the chemical industry with the high-tech industry. By bringing Shell and ASML together you can take steps that were previously unthinkable.” “You have to combine technologies that didn’t know each other before.” 23
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