Building a Security Cluster: HSD Campus is Further Expanding
In the beginning of October the Municipality of The Hague has started working on expanding the HSD Campus. At the moment the national innovation centre for security consists of the 7th and 8th floor of the HeadQuarter building in the Beatrixkwartier, The Hague’s central business district. As of the first of December the campus will be further extended to the 6th floor. “An important and necessary step in the development of the HSD Campus towards an international security hub”, says Erik van der Rijt, Programme Manager HSD at the Municipality of The Hague and responsible for the HSD Campus and its development. “At the moment the campus comprehends 2.200 m2, but since the opening in February we’ve already rented out more than 80% of all available office space. A total of 15 organisations have settled on the premises and the number of organisations that want to establish themselves on the campus is still increasing. To accommodate the demand we’ve decided to increase the HSD Campus, including extra offices and facilities on the 6th floor.”
‘The place to be’
The HSD Campus offers businesses governments, and knowledge institutions new opportunities. The comments from current tenants on the added value of the HSD Campus to their organisations are exemplary. Adrian Smits of Thales stated for example: “The HSD Campus is for all security professionals in The Netherlands ‘the place to be.” And Menno Stijl of Authasas seems to know why: “Good contacts with other partners in the security space are invaluable for extending our eco-system. That’s precisely what the HSD Campus has to offer: opportunities to jointly build best-in-class security solutions.”
The HSD Campus not only offers possibilities for large companies and institutions, but also for SME and new start-ups. Hans Henseler of Tracks Inspector says: “The HSD Campus provides us with exactly the environment and network we need as a start-up.” A statement that corresponds to Leopold van Oosten of Tokenizer opinion: “The HSD Campus is an ideal location for us: in addition to government institutions and research institutes there are also many potential business partners to be found.”
Connecting businesses, accelerating growth
The enthusiasm of the current tenants pleases Van der Rijt: “First of all we’ve created the HSD Campus primarily to facilitate and stimulate the Triple Helix in the security domain. At the campus public and private parties meet each other and work together on innovations, which they can also present to potential customers. It’s these kind of new innovative solutions in security that will make for a more secure world and simultaneously create economic return as well. We want to help businesses connected to The Hague Security Delta and aim to accelerate their growth. So far the results are very good, as the security cluster is growing above average. To ensure that this trend continues we strive to further strengthen and improve the HSD Campus.”
Expanding and improving
“Moreover, with the experience and knowledge acquired since its opening in February, we now know exactly what the demands and needs of the users of the campus are and thus what we needed to extra invest in. The most important improvement is the increased possibility for education and training by building an extra classroom with a higher capacity. And in line with this we are also creating a new Serious Gaming Room. Furthermore, as I said before there is a high need for more office and work space. That is why we will be offering new turn-key, furnished office units and, to meet the increase in requests for flexible workplaces, we will also arrange a new flex work space for freelancers. It’s our philosophy that entrepreneurs in all stages should be able to start working on their business and innovations at the HSD Campus. Business growth will eventually cause changing office needs. The HSD Campus must provide for this and be able to offer innovative businesses solutions that suit their needs in order to maximize their success. Not only for themselves, but also in order to achieve a more secure society and increase the competitiveness of the Dutch knowledge economy.”
“With the security cluster so rapidly growing, the needs of the security cluster are changing along. Therefore our policy is always determined by a demand-based approach” concludes Erik van der Rijt, while looking ahead: “If the HSD Campus continues to grow at the same pace, we might have to look for further expansion sooner rather than later. We will now start with an extra 300 m2 and if necessary the building luckily offers the possibility to double the current size of the HSD Campus within the next two years.”
Interested in office space at the HSD Campus?
Would you like to join the HSD Campus? For more information about the facilities on offer at the HSD Campus, i.e. conference/meeting rooms, education centre, Boardroom or Living Labs, contact Jochem Streekstra, Campus Manager: (0)70 302 81 80 or campus@thehaguesecuritydelta.com.
For office rental contact Mr. E. Van der Rijt of the Municipality of The Hague: +31 (0)70 353 77 90 or erik.vanderrijt@denhaag.nl.