NAE Goal
NAE’s goal is to foster a vital and effective environment of responsible, inclusive and impactful engineering-based innovation, rooted in a world-class knowledge and talent base in technological sciences and human-centred design. We also aim to make the engineering community’s voice better heard among key decision-makers. NAE will do this by providing a forum for constructive debate, orchestrating the pivot to action and advising on pressing strategic challenges and necessary improvements to the Dutch knowledge and innovation system.
NAE Position
NAE positions itself as a spider in the web of the knowledge and innovation ecosystem, connecting engineers and innovators at knowledge institutions, established and start-up companies and governments, based on the conviction that technology-based innovation is the key to creating and deploying solutions for urgent societal issues and transitions.
NAE strives for systemic improvements in the knowledge and innovation ecosystem. This includes issues such as human capital, internationalisation, valorisation, improving the environment in which start-ups can thrive and more effective orchestration of public-private partnerships.
NAE will also delve into specific strategic innovation themes, with the core question of how engineering-based innovation can achieve a more effective approach to societal challenges such as health, climate, environment, energy transition, circular economy, agriculture and food, drinking water and water management. NAE will also participate in the formulation of key enabling technology strategies and best practices.
NAE will help the Netherlands position itself vis-à-vis European initiatives and policies, such as the European Chips Act, Data Act, Cloud Sovereignty and the AI Act. Through memberships of international associations of Academies of Engineering, such as Euro-CASE and CAETS, NAE will put forward the Dutch interest.
We are a not-for-profit organisation. As a representative mouthpiece of the engineering ecosystem in the Netherlands, NAE will, when taking a position on issues, be objective and non-political, ensure a solid foundation based on current scientific knowledge and insights from business practice, and focus on what is best for society as a whole and for the Dutch knowledge and innovation ecosystem in particular.
Read NAE strategic themes here
Read NAE annual calendar 2024 here
Netherlands
Academy of
Engineering
A forum for constructive debate Orchestrating the pivot to action Offering advice
Societal Challengess and Transitions
Engineering, human centric design, and the underlying technical sciences will clearly have to be at the heart of innovative solutions for most of the pressing societal challenges and transitions – whether it is about climate change, or safeguarding equitable access to energy, water, food, and healthcare. While there are many pockets of excellence in the Netherlands, the effectiveness of our knowledge and innovation ecosystem needs to improve, and we need orchestrated action to be able to tackle these challenges, to safeguard our quality of living, the sustainability of our environment, and to remain economically competitive in the European and global context.
Systemic Improvements
Issues to be addressed include systemic improvements in the knowledge and innovation ecosystem such as the need to ensure appropriate funding and recognition of foundational technical sciences and human capital, valorization, spinning out IP, VC money for startups, PPP orchestration and financing, as well as specific innovation strategy issues and initiatives to be taken (such as currently how to position the Netherlands versus the European Chips Act or other big EU themes like data access, cloud sovereignty, and the AI Act). Engineering is at the heart of innovative solutions for many fields, as recognized also in the Mission-driven Topsector and Innovation Policy (MTIB), with their Knowledge and Innovation Agendas for the improvement of the earning power of the Netherlands, and the approach to address societal challenges, and the role of key technologies therein. Given the breadth of engineering-based knowledge and innovation, the NAE will choose what to focus on in its annual agenda, taking into account input from key stakeholders.