South Holland’s innovation strength grows through intensive local government cooperation
Six parties partner to further boost innovative entrepreneurship and solve problems together
The Hague, November 13, 2024 – Province of South Holland, Metropol Region Rotterdam The Hague (MRDH), and the municipalities of Delft, The Hague, Leiden, and Rotterdam will work more closely together in the coming years to improve the climate for start-ups and scale-ups. On November 13, they signed a declaration of intent to this end. The joint ambition is to create an implementation programme in early 2025 to develop regional start-ups and scale-ups. Other parties, such as knowledge institutions, are also invited to participate.
Working on solutions for tomorrow
Start-ups and scale-ups contribute strongly to economic growth and employment for various levels of education. A good business climate is therefore important. The province of South Holland was recently named number one in the Netherlands for start-ups working on innovative technology and impact*. The challenge is mainly to do things smarter together, according to an exploration by startup and innovation expert Ruben Nieuwenhuis.
* Source: Techleap, State of Dutch Tech, 2024, pages 80-83: https://techleap.nl/state-of-dutch-tech-2024/
“The world is in transition and South Holland wants to stay ahead of it. Entrepreneurs working on tomorrow’s solutions are extremely important in this. They contribute to broad prosperity, for instance by creating jobs and solving social challenges. To support them in the best possible way, we need to look beyond the city limits of The Hague.”
Synergy: achieving more together
The collaboration should lead to less fragmentation of knowledge and efforts and economies of scale by bundling activities. This increases the impact and tackling bottlenecks becomes easier together. Where it can sometimes be a challenge for a start-up or growing company to find the right place within the city limits, this is easier in a larger area.
“We are facing major joint challenges, such as the energy transition in our Rotterdam port, an important economic engine of the region. The innovative power of start-ups and scale-ups is essential to accelerate this process and strengthen our competitive position. This collaboration ensures that we as a region are better prepared for the opportunities and challenges of tomorrow.”
