Digital Gateway

The Netherlands: A digital gateway to Europe

High-speed broadband Internet
High-speed broadband Internet plays a huge role in business and the Dutch network is amongst the best in the world.

Broadband and grid technology is an area where the Netherlands has a lot of expertise.  R&D companies, IT knowledge and infrastructure place the Netherlands in the top echelon of wired countries in the world. For example, many professional organisations in the Dutch healthcare sector are already using broadband and grid technology to link patient data in groups of hospitals with medical expertise in universities.

IT Usage
IT usage in Dutch homes and companies is also very strong.  Some 84% of homes have PC's and nearly all of these are connected to the Internet.  Of the 93% of companies connected to the Internet, 62% already use broadband. The Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) is one of the world's leading IP exchanges and one of Europe's main computer and networking services centres, SARA, is also located in Amsterdam.

ICT: a top priority
The Dutch government has announced that it is making information and communications technology (ICT) a top priority in the continuous campaign to support industry overall. The stated goal is to have the Netherlands become the electronic business centre of Europe, and the country is well on its way to realising this vision.
 
Privatisation of the telecommunications sector spurred forward to put in place a state-of-the-art telecom infrastructure, including nationwide fibre optics and digitalisation. The government believes the private sector should take the lead in further developing and taking advantage of the IT infrastructure. Meanwhile, the government can concern itself with maintaining a favourable business environment by, among other things, preserving a predictable and stable legal setting, and lobbying for market opening initiatives in international forums.

Subsidy arrangements
Dutch authorities' efforts to stimulate the ICT sector and further improve the business environment include offering subsidy arrangements in support of technological R&D, and co-founding the Telematics Institute in the city of Enschede (where universities, research institutes and corporations collaborate on high-level research in telecommunications). In short, the Netherlands is doing all it can to ensure that the country will live up to its claim of being the multimedia gateway to Europe.

Prime IT business location
The Netherlands has emerged as a prime location on the European continent for pan-European operations in the field of IT. Concepts like just-in-time delivery and built-to-order - now common in Dutch industry - are crucial for success in the assembly and distribution of continually changing IT products.
Traditionally, Dutch companies have loomed large in sectors like electronics and multimedia. Furthermore, companies like Philips, Océ, Reed Elsevier and Wolters Kluwer continue to stake out a major role in shaping new IT developments.
International ICT companies with extensive pan-European activities in the Netherlands include: Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Lucent Technologies, Ingram Micro, Intel, Fujitsu Siemens, Samsung, Ericsson, Canon, Xerox and Quest. Firms active in software applications and Internet services have also discovered the attractive qualities of the Dutch business climate. Broadbase, Level 3 and PeopleSoft, to name just a few, have all set up substantial operations in the Netherlands.
Read the Cisco story
Read the Sun Microsystems story