Topsector ICT is proud to present its 2024 Annual Review, showing the Netherlands’ strong performance in terms of digitalisation while highlighting potential improvements.
The growing economic importance of ICT
The ICT sector accounts for a major and growing share of Dutch gross domestic product (GDP), and the sector’s rapid expansion highlights the key contribution of ICT to the country’s economic growth. At the end of last year, ICT companies accounted for 4.4% of the Netherlands’ enterprise population, representing close to 100,000 companies. It is worth noting that many companies in other sectors are now also highly IT-driven, including banks and utility companies. However, this development is not shown in the figures. Based on the presence of ICT professionals in other sectors, the share of ICT services in the country’s GDP is considerably larger.
KIA Digitalisation
To promote sustainable economic growth and national security, the Netherlands is investing strategically in technologies that have a significant impact on Dutch society and the economy. In 2024, a major milestone was reached with the debut of innovation and research programmes in the first independent Knowledge and Innovation Agenda (KIA) for digitalisation, known as KIA D. This KIA was set up by the Dutch government to consolidate research on digitalisation, which was previously scattered across various KIAs that were overseen by different top sectors. The KIA Digitalisation will now steer innovation and knowledge exchange more effectively while improving the quality of public-private partnerships in this field of research.
National Technology Strategy and two Action Agendas
The National Technology Strategy (NTS), presented at the beginning of 2024 by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, sets out the Dutch government’s policy for technological development and innovation in the Netherlands. It aims to consolidate the country’s competitive edge in a rapidly changing technological landscape and address the major challenges the Netherlands faces as a society, such as the energy transition, circular economy, health and care, agriculture, water and food, and national security.
Another key objective of the NTS is to increase strategic autonomy in order to reduce the Netherlands’ and Europe’s dependencies on other countries for critical technologies. This is being fulfilled through targeted investments in ten priority key enabling technologies, allowing businesses, knowledge institutions and public administrations to collaborate on innovations and research projects. Topsector ICT covers three key Digital and Information Technologies: Artificial Intelligence, Data and Cybersecurity Technologies.
AI and Data are being combined in the Action Agenda AI/Data, which has been taking shape since the end of 2024. The Agenda is being coordinated by Topsector ICT and developed in close collaboration with relevant coalitions and stakeholders. An Action Agenda for Cybersecurity Technologies is also being developed. Again coordinated by Topsector ICT, the Agenda will be aligned as closely as possible with the Knowledge and Innovation Agenda (KIA) Digitalisation. The aim is to submit both Agendas to the Dutch House of Representatives this year.
See the publication ‘Digitalisatie: volle vaart vooruit!’ (available in Dutch only) for more information about the Action Agendas, the KIA Digitalisation and other key developments.
End of DBC and C2D
Two coalitions were disbanded in 2024: the Dutch Blockchain Coalition (DBC) and Commit2Data (C2D). The DBC spearheaded efforts to boost knowledge and applications of decentralised technology, accelerating the Netherlands’ shift towards a decentralised digital infrastructure. The coalition achieved this goal after seven years, leaving a mature ecosystem to pursue the next steps.
Commit2Data (C2D) is the Dutch research and innovation programme that ran from 2016 to 31 December 2024, having received 62 million euros of public funding and 17 millions of private funding in total. C2D’s innovative public-private approach allowed the Netherlands to play a pioneering role in big data research. Topsector ICT will be continuing this legacy in the AI/Data Action Agenda within the framework of the National Technology Strategy (NTS) and the KIA Digitalisation.
Innovation and research programmes
In 2024, the following four innovation and research programmes – two for AI, one for Data and one for Software Technologies and Computing – were launched in line with the KIA Digitalisation’s three pillars. These programmes took the form of public-private partnerships for innovation (PPSi).
- Large Language Models (LLMs), in collaboration with Utrecht University, Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), Amsterdam UMC, Radboud University and TNO-ICT
- Responsible AI, in collaboration with SIDN Fund (read the report of the matchmaking even here)
- AI/Data in sectors, a cross-over call with the top sectors Horticulture & Starting Materials, Agri & Food and Water & Maritime, in collaboration with the KIA Agriculture, Water and Food
- Digital Product Passports (DPPs), in collaboration with the Taskforce for Applied Research SIA
In 2024, the above PPSi were joined by two innovation and research programmes in the Knowledge and Innovation Covenant of the Dutch Research Council (NWO-KIC):
- ‘Data spaces for the energy transition’ cross-over call
- Digital Twinning: multidisciplinary simulation for better and up-to-date insight
Focus on SMEs
The year 2024 saw an uptick in use of digital technologies by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with 81.5% using this technology last year compared with 80% in 2022. There was particularly strong growth in AI uptake, rising from 13.4% in 2023 to 23.1% in 2024. During that same period, the rate of SME cloud adoption increased from 61.2% to 71%.
Topsector ICT stepped up its collaboration with ROM-NL (regional development agencies), Techleap and Invest-NL. Last year, a total of 22 networking events for various coalitions were organised with MIT instruments (SME Innovation Stimulus for Regional and Top Sectors) and financial support from Topsector ICT, compared with just three events in 2023. The number of SMEs that Topsector ICT helped to access guidance from an innovation broker rose from three in 2023 to five in 2024. This article published by Dutch IT Channel provides more information about this instrument and how the Rotterdam-based company Docklab benefited from the grant scheme.
Internationalisation
In 2024, Topsector ICT once again supported various trade missions and Dutch pavilions at strategic trade events, attended by over 150 exhibitors. These included the following strategic trade events focusing on tech:
- Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona;
- Hannover Messe (Hanover);
- Forum International de la Cybersécurité (FIC) in Lille (now called InCyber Forum Europe);
- RSA (San Francisco).
Topsector ICT also helped to organise an innovation mission in AI & Health to Japan and explore the options for a strategic partnership with the Asia-Pacific region (Singapore, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea).
Read more about the positive experiences of participating SMEs, start-ups and investors in this article (Dutch).
Digital skills
The Netherlands takes top spot in digital skills among European nations. This is according to the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), the European Commission’s annual index measuring Member States’ progress in the digital transformation of their economies and societies. In 2024, the Netherlands achieved a score of 54.5%, beating its first-place score of 51.7% in 2023. The index ranks the Netherlands fourth for digital intensity, with a score of 78.6%. View the Netherlands’ DESI profile.
Growing IT skills shortage
Despite its track record, the Netherlands is not without its weak spots. The 2024 Network Readiness Index (NRI) – a global ranking that assesses how well countries are using and benefiting from digital technologies – put the country in sixth place, two places lower than the previous year. The Netherlands achieves particularly high scores in governance and technology, taking third place in both, and occupies sixth place for impact (77.39%). The country’s drop in the ranking is primarily a result of its relatively low score in the category ‘people’, coming in twentieth (55.30%). This metric provides insight into how well a country’s population (categorised as individuals, businesses and governments) are able to use and benefit from digital technologies.
The Netherlands’ persistent and growing shortage of ICT professionals represents one of the major bottlenecks preventing the country from achieving its global digitalisation ambitions. Data from Statistics Netherlands indicate that the number of ICT professionals has stagnated, totalling around 670,000 at the end of 2024 – the same number as last year. This data does not just relate to conventional ICT roles, however, given that ICT is an increasingly significant aspect in a number of professions. These figures may vary depending on the definitions and ICT job classifications used.
The results highlight the strength of the Netherlands’ digital infrastructure and governance on the one hand, and a need to improve the population’s digital skills and digital inclusion on the other.
Human Capital Agenda ICT
The Human Capital Agenda (HCA ICT) is a national action plan spearheaded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs to address the Netherlands’ ICT skills shortage. The HCA ICT aims to have at least one million ICT professionals working in the Netherlands by 2030.
In 2024, the Ministry launched an implementation plan along the following action lines:
- Improving the quality of ICT teaching and education
- Boosting the uptake of digital careers
- Facilitating transitions to digital careers
- Encouraging upskilling
- Optimising underlying structures and facilities
- A programme – in collaboration with dcypher and the Platform Talent for Technology (PTvT) – that seeks to address the shortage of cybersecurity specialists.
Read this interview with Frits Grotenhuis (Dutch), director of Topsector ICT and Pieter Moerman, director of PTvT.
Communications
Last year saw significant progress in terms of Communications and PR. Topsector ICT and the KIA Digitalisation officially debuted as an independent brand, and each launched a Dutch and English website. We also produced four videos, hit over 2,000 followers on LinkedIn, published a total of 11 newsletters with an audience of 12,000 readers and provided information to over 44 million people through the media.
If you would like to stay up to date with all the developments,