Deputy Mayor Van Engelshoven: HSD is One of The Top Economic Priorities For The Coming Years
In June 2014 the political parties D66, PvdA, HSP, VVD and CDA presented their preliminary coalition agreement for The Hague City Council. They specifically mentioned HSD as a key innovation cluster for the city’s economic development. At that time deputy mayor Ingrid van Engelshoven took over the baton from Henk Kool and became responsible for Knowledge Economy, International Affairs and Youth and Education. In that capacity she is also responsible for the development of HSD, which the City Council considers to be a top economic priority for the coming years. It is therefore the perfect moment to learn more about the deputy mayor and the ambitions of The Hague.
Deputy mayor Van Engelshoven: “the international city of The Hague is a job engine. As many as 37.500 people derive their work from the international organisations and institutions located in The Hague. We are the legal capital of the world. A city without walls. All year round we work hard on international issues of peace, justice, and security. The Hague Security Delta is the strongest example of this last category. And within the cluster we also see a strong growth in employment. In recent years, in the The Hague region the number of jobs within the security cluster has risen to 13.400 and this trend will continue in the coming years. It is estimated that by 2020 an extra 5.000 jobs will have been created”.
Create Jobs
“An innovative mind-set, that is what all parties which cooperate within HSD share. This also applies to the Municipality of The Hague. The creation of jobs through innovation and renewal is even the number-1 priority of the City Council. Stagnation does not exist. The choice is going forward or backward. This council relies on ‘The Hague’s Strength’ to achieve progress. It is an illusion to think that everything can be controlled from the City Hall. It is something one shouldn’t want and one shouldn’t think is possible”.
Collaboration
“I like to use the cooperation with HSD as an example. Together we can do much more than we can by ourselves. InnovationQuarter, the HSD Development Fund, and the HSD Campus are examples of how we actually work on our ambitions”.
HSD Campus
“The HSD Campus plays an important role in achieving innovation. Businesses, governments, and knowledge institutions in the field of security meet at the HSD Campus to cooperate, meet up, follow training programmes, and present solutions. It is the place where all stakeholders in the field of security meet in person. Since the opening in February, more than 90% of the available office space was rented out to 18 organisations, both public and private. Amongst others, the National Police, the Dutch Tax Service, Thales, Fox-IT and innovative SMEs like Authasas and Crowdsense now have an office on the HSD Campus. Recently, work places for flex use have become available as well, in order to offer freelancers the possibility to further develop their enterprises on the campus. And since December 1st, due to the high demand, extra educational facilities, office space, and flex workspaces have been created”.
National Security Cluster
"The Hague region benefits from The Hague Security Delta, but the ambitions go further. HSD specifically is a nationwide security cluster, in which Eindhoven and Twente also play an important role. Furthermore, the calls for the HSD Development Fund are open to all Dutch innovations in the field of security.”
Cyber Security Academy
“The demand for qualified personnel in the field of security is steadily growing, while potential employees are hard to find. Therefore, the Cyber Security Academy (CSA), the first multidisciplinary, executive master on cyber security, was founded and has started with 27 participants this year. The CSA is an unique collaboration with the Delft University of Technology, Leiden University and The Hague University of Applied Sciences. Also, recently the Security Talent Community, an initiative that aims to improve matchmaking between employers, employees, and students, was launched. In itself this is not a security innovation, but it is however essential to enable innovation”.
Set the Bar High
“Let’s set the bar high. Eventually HSD should become the largest and leading security cluster in Europe. This is a strong ambition, and a challenging one. The first results are already visible: international businesses and congresses increasingly come to The Hague. It’s not without a reason that NATO recently decided to relocate its cyber activities to The Hague and that in the coming year The Hague will host no less than five international congresses. The Global Conference on Cyber Space on April 16th and 17th 2015 is the most important one of those. It is an unique opportunity to show the world the security innovations we have in the Netherlands and to further strengthen HSD’s international position. Together we will make use of this opportunity”.