Learning from the Finns

The Netherlands really needs to regain its position among the world's top-five knowledge economies. We are currently just managing to hold onto a top-ten position. We're now ranked eighth, but in 2000 we were ranked third. We are lagging behind our competitors in terms of innovation. And our competitors are not just the usual giants like the US and Canada, but also smaller countries such as the Scandinavian countries, Switzerland and Singapore.

What are these countries doing differently, and especially better, than the Netherlands? They are investing more in research & development. Both the public and private share of research funding is lagging behind in the Netherlands. The level of our innovative and knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship also leaves something to be desired. The Netherlands has traditionally been an entrepreneurial country, but in this age of globalization it is more important than ever that small and medium-sized companies innovate and amass new knowledge even quicker. We must forge a more solid link between companies, governmental organizations, and knowledge institutes ('Triple Helix'), giving us the opportunity to turn knowledge into real value (valorization).

A good example is Finland, especially the thriving region around Helsinki. This region is a center of advanced knowledge and a hub of human capital (also see http://www.scienceguide.nl/201103/nederland). One explanation for this Finnish success story is the interest that universities in that country take in their PhD students and the scope they give them to venture outside the walls of academia. This means that the job market for PhDs is very good, even outside the university. Researchers find employment in business and consultancy just as easily as other experts. They are a link between universities, trade & industry, and the public sector. This is exactly the combination that a knowledge economy needs.