A resilient Netherlands requires a sufficient number of technical professionals, as well as technical expertise in the areas where key decisions are made. That was a key conclusion reached by the engineers during the meeting of the Netherlands Academy of Engineering (NAE), the Royal Netherlands Society of Engineers (KIVI) and the Foundation for the Future of Technology (STT) on 22 September on the technological resilience of the Netherlands.

A resilient Netherlands requires sufficient technical professionals, as well as technical expertise in the places where important decisions are made. This was a key conclusion reached by the engineers during the meeting of the Netherlands Academy of Engineering (NAE), the Royal Netherlands Society of Engineers (KIVI) and the Foundation for the Future of Technology (STT) on 22 September concerning the Netherlands’ technological resilience.

Gaining greater control over energy supply and digital infrastructure requires decisions which, according to engineers, the Netherlands has been postponing for too long. Where should we deploy our scarce technical specialists? And does the government have sufficient knowledge to make such assessments?

These questions were the focus of a meeting on 22 September on the Netherlands’ technological resilience. Concerns centred on gas reserves, US cloud services and technical education. Underlying all of this was the same problem: the availability of technical knowledge and the weight given to it in decision-making.

Technical knowledge requirements necessary for policy roles

Bert Hubert, an entrepreneur and software engineer, argued during the meeting that technical expertise should play a more direct role in policy-making. According to Hubert, the expertise that is available does not yet reach the Cabinet and boardrooms to a sufficient extent. On issues such as grid congestion, energy supply and digital dependency, he believes it is important that technical knowledge is directly incorporated into the decision-making process.

One of the ideas that emerged during the meeting was to include technical knowledge more explicitly as a competence requirement for certain policy roles within ministries. Which specific knowledge is required for which role, and how this should be assessed, still needs to be worked out in more detail.

Technical knowledge requirements necessary for policy roles

Bert Hubert, an entrepreneur and software engineer, voiced the sharpest criticism. In his view, the expertise that is available does not reach the Council of Ministers and the boardrooms to a sufficient extent. He considers recommendations to strengthen the government’s knowledge base to be too non-committal. On issues such as grid congestion and digital dependency, technical expertise must be directly incorporated into policy, he argued.

One proposal to emerge from the meeting was to set technical knowledge requirements for policy roles in ministries responsible for energy, infrastructure and digitalisation. However, the specifics of what knowledge is required for which role, and how this should be assessed, remained undefined.

According to the participants, things are also going wrong outside the government. In the focus on engineers, too much emphasis has been placed on academic training, whilst practically trained professionals are indispensable for implementation. In addition, technical sectors are losing graduates to sectors such as consultancy: a leaky pipeline.

Set your priorities, otherwise other countries will decide for you

The Beethoven talent programme, centred on ASML, was cited as a source of inspiration for other sectors. Hans de Jong, special envoy for the talent initiative within the Beethoven project and chair of the Supervisory Board of the Platform for Talent in Technology, highlighted the tension between freedom of choice in study and career paths and the need to place people in roles where there are acute shortages. If the Netherlands fails to set priorities, as Wennink says, De Jong believes the direction will be dictated by other countries.

NAE, KIVI and STT intend to step up the pressure on politicians in the coming period to address the technical knowledge base in society and within the government in particular.

Further information

Please direct any enquiries for further information or interview requests to Annelies ten Have (NAE).