Maintaining balance during the rapid development of Brainport Eindhoven

Paul van Nunen: “The future of our region starts with our joint agenda, which affects the whole of the Netherlands and Europe”  

Brainport Eindhoven is a strong region with an excellent global position in the field of technology. A well-oiled model of cooperation between businesses, government bodies and knowledge and educational institutions contributes to the quality of life in Brainport and has made it a great place for people to live, work and study.

‘Our success has accelerated the development of Brainport,’ says Paul van Nunen. He is director of Brainport Development, the region's economic development agency. “We expect tens of thousands of additional jobs and more people coming to work and live here in the coming years.”

This increase in jobs and residents also means that more houses, infrastructure and facilities are needed. As a result, there are regular teething problems in the region. ‘The region is undergoing rapid development,’ says Van Nunen. ‘That's great, but it also means more pressure on the region. That's why we need to invest – in a balanced way.’ Maintaining a good balance between economic development and the living environment is the starting point here: a sustainable leap forward for the region.

Joint strategy

The Brainport Agenda serves as a guideline for achieving this. It is the result of a joint strategy drawn up on the basis of input from the regional business community, knowledge and educational institutions and municipalities. It shows how the economic position of Brainport Eindhoven can be strengthened in a way that benefits all residents of the region. Operation Beethoven (including billions from central government and the local community) is now so intertwined with the Brainport Agenda that it is no longer clear to everyone how everything relates to each other.

‘Everyone is asking about Beethoven. What about the spending of the billions, and what do we see of it in the region? That's logical, because it's a lot of money. But if you really want to know what the plans are to enable a sustainable leap forward for the region, you have to look at the agenda as a whole.’ That is the appeal made by Paul van Nunen, director of Brainport Development. ’Beethoven is important. But it is just one building block. The overarching long-term strategy is what matters.’

The region is growing, the story is becoming more complex

‘Brainport Eindhoven is growing rapidly. In the coming years, around 70,000 jobs will be created, replacing 20,000 jobs lost to retirement and creating 50,000 new jobs. This requires additional housing, accessibility, facilities and, above all, cohesion to ensure that growth is balanced.’ Van Nunen notes that the number of projects needed to achieve this is considerable. ‘Beethoven, the Partner Fund, ChipNL, the Brainport Academy, Brainport for Each Other... but if you don't know the structure, you quickly lose track. We trip over each other with all these names and programmes. The cohesion is there, but we don't always make it sufficiently visible.’

To remedy this shortcoming, Van Nunen wants to place more emphasis on the Brainport Agenda. ‘Our multi-year agenda is our compass – the long-term plan that guides everything we do. Every project, from Beethoven to talent programmes, is a building block that contributes to the implementation of the agenda. And ultimately, it's all about the people in the region: better accessibility, more housing, opportunities for young people.’ This means that there are in fact three layers that explain the coherence of the whole: at the top is the Brainport Agenda for the long-term perspective, below that are the implementation programmes, and below that are the effects of all that work, both locally and far beyond. This allows us to show how everything is connected. It helps administrators, entrepreneurs, educational institutions, residents and the outside world understand what Brainport is working on – and why.

The three layers

1. The Brainport Agenda
This is the foundation. A long-term plan drawn up by government bodies, businesses and knowledge institutions. It sets out what the Brainport region wants to achieve: to remain a technological leader, maintain employment and ensure a liveable region for everyone. ‘We focus on the important technologies and our unique competitive advantage in these areas in the future,’ says Van Nunen. ‘Semiconductors, photonics, mechanical engineering, AI. Talent, mobility and housing are also essential.’ The Brainport Agenda aims to ensure that we remain at the forefront. Both in technology and in the economy and living conditions that go with it. Without housing, there is no talent; without talent, there is no technology.

2. The building blocks
Everything Brainport undertakes – from battery technology development in the Battery Competence Cluster to collaboration between national semiconductor companies in ChipNL, from the Brainport Deal and Beethoven to the Partner Fund – are concrete steps within that agenda. These are not isolated initiatives, but pearls on a single chain. ‘Beethoven is not the plan,’ says Van Nunen. ‘It is a tool to accelerate the agenda. The same applies to all other programmes. They are valuable, but not an end in themselves.’

3. The region
What do residents notice about all these plans? That is ultimately what matters. Good education, good job opportunities, less traffic congestion, more affordable housing. Good facilities. In other words, maintaining the technologically strong region that we are today, including a balanced living, working and living environment.

Why this also concerns the Netherlands and Europe

Brainport's strategy is not a local story. Its impact reaches much further. What is conceived and built here in the region helps the Netherlands move forward – and contributes to Europe's strategic autonomy. ‘If Brainport performs well, the whole of the Netherlands and even Europe will benefit,’ says Van Nunen. ‘We are strengthening our country's earning capacity. And we are helping to build Europe's ambition to be less dependent on the US and China for crucial technologies.’

Our strategy therefore serves as a national and even European flywheel. “It is important that we explain this better,” says Van Nunen. ’It is perfectly logical that we are often asked why the government should invest so much in this region. The answer is because this region contributes to the earning capacity of the Netherlands and the independence of Europe. That is why investments in Brainport are not a favour, but a strategic choice. With sectors such as semiconductors, photonics and AI, Brainport is at the forefront of tomorrow's technology.’