The Netherlands is an innovation leader in Europe

Increasing innovation despite global challenges

The Netherlands has maintained its status as European innovation leader, taking 4th place in the recently unveiled 2023 European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS). The EIS is an annual ranking that assesses EU member states across 32 performance indicators, assessing various aspects such as digitalisation, public-private partnerships, funding, research systems, human resources, and innovation within SMEs. The report reveals that EU member states have increased their overall performance by an average of 8.5% since 2016 despite global challenges.

Among the top performers, Denmark claimed 1st followed by Sweden (#2) and Finland (#3) with the Netherlands coming in 4th. Based on their performance relative to the EU average, member states were categorised into 4 groups: Innovation Leaders, Strong Innovators, Moderate Innovators, and Emerging Innovators (as indicated by the graph below).

A leading innovation ecosystem

The EIS attributes the Netherlands' status as an 'Innovation Leader' to the traditional strengths of the Dutch ecosystem including the quality of academic and research institutions and high level of digital skills. The report also highlights successful efforts to increase collaborations among dynamic SMEs and make more venture capital available, which helps improve innovation conditions long-term. 

The country's innovation efforts have also been recognised on the world stage as the Netherlands climbed to 5th place in this year's IMD Global Competitiveness Ranking. The ranking points to high-quality infrastructure, such as well-developed transport and communication networks, and an efficient business environment as key strengths that help the Netherlands compete on a global scale.

The Amsterdam Area is shaping the future

The Dutch capital is world-renowned for embracing new ideas, from setting the standard for ethical use of technology to being the first to adopt the circular (doughnut) economy model. Driven by a collaborative network of public-private partnerships and leading academic and research institutions, the region's innovation ecosystem is bolstered by the backing of municipal and regional authorities and a highly skilled talent pool. Across the area, emerging innovation districts are actively contributing to shaping a future that is liveable, healthy, and sustainable.

See what's going on at some of the Amsterdam Area's leading innovation hubs.