‘Choosing brings focus: the best foundation for collaboration’

Anyone who entered the lecture halls of TU Delft fifty years ago was met with an icy welcome from the Rector Magnificus at the opening of the academic year: “Look to your left, look to your right: only one of you three will make it.” Hans de Jong, former CEO of Philips Netherlands and currently the national figurehead of the microchip talent program under Project Beethoven, recalls it with a broad smile. Times change. Today, the message is the exact opposite: we desperately need everyone, and we want to retain everyone.

At the national microchip talent conference in Delft, where educational institutions, regional clusters, and the high-tech industry gathered, De Jong radiates pragmatic optimism. Where elsewhere in the country political doubt or systemic fatigue sometimes takes the upper hand, energy abounds around Beethoven. “You can feel it even at the coffee machine: people are simply having an enormous amount of fun,” he says. “And that despite the fact that it is by no means an easy task.”

No mandate from The Hague, but bottom-up ownership

The national plan to provide the semiconductor and high-tech supply chain with sufficient talent rests, according to De Jong, on three clear guiding principles: integrated public-private collaboration, room to experiment and learn along the way, and, above all, strict bottom-up governance.

“We have a steering committee that sets frameworks and provides support, but we are absolutely not dictating this top-down,” De Jong emphasises. “Regions have to take ownership themselves, forge joint plans, and look beyond their own borders. And that is happening on a large scale. Making choices brings focus, focus brings clarity, and that clarity turns out to be the best foundation for collaboration.”

That cooperation is already translating into moves once considered impossible. Horizontal alliances are emerging, institutions teaming up to recruit internationally rather than shielding their own networks, alongside pioneering vertical partnerships. Vocational (MBO), applied sciences (HBO), and research university (WO) institutions in Delft, Twente, and Eindhoven are sharing facilities such as cleanrooms and developing continuous learning pathways.

Bridging theory and reality

At the intersection of theory and practice lies one of the most vital keys to Beethoven’s success: the synergy between vocational education and high-tech industry, De Jong notes. The Netherlands excels at high-tech concepts, yet innovation remains trapped in abstraction without the people who can actually fabricate, measure, and assemble them. As the recent Wennink Report underlined: technological sovereignty and productivity growth begin with talent. The nationwide scaling of precision craftsmanship, in which the Leidse Instrumentmakers School (LiS) shares its proven practical standard with regional MBO partners such as Summa College in Brainport, Firda, ROC van Twente, and Vista College, serves as a prime example.

In these ecosystems, industry is no longer a passive customer at the end of the line, but a full co-developer. Companies supply real-world case studies, provide hybrid lecturers and machinery, and offer training environments where theory is immediately tested against sub-micron tolerances.

The next phase: from educating to enticing

Until now, the programme has focused primarily on education: building capacity and developing joint curricula. But the upcoming phase calls for a far more intensive public-private integration, De Jong cautions.

“The targets are etched in our minds: we are looking for 38,000 newly trained technicians, 26,000 of whom fall under the Beethoven umbrella backed by public and co-funding. They need to be in place by 2030. But we are not Japan, where a professor simply assigns a graduate to a company. People here have freedom of choice. The next major challenge, therefore, is not just educating, but enticing: first to choose a technical education, and subsequently to actually enter and remain in the industry.”

This demands attractive internships, an inspiring work environment, and a broader labour-market outlook, especially given the demographic decline facing the Netherlands.

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Two critical levers: lifelong development and international talent

To reach those targets, De Jong highlights two areas where education and industry must quickly align:

1. A national response to Lifelong Development (LLO): While initial enrollment is well-organised, reskilling and upskilling still depend too heavily on fragmented private-sector efforts, according to De Jong. Given the rapid rise of AI and automation, jobs will shift across certain sectors, opening opportunities to retrain people for high-tech. “Lifelong development must become a nationally supported mission, where educational institutions and businesses formulate a structural answer together.”
2. Cherishing international talent: Across master’s programs at the technical universities, international students now make up 40 to 50 per cent of the cohort. “We simply cannot do without them,” De Jong states plainly. “The Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB) calculated that they are a net contributor to the national treasury, which will hopefully inform the political debate. But this goes beyond figures: we must create the right preconditions—from suitable housing to a warm welcome for partners and families—so that they stay after graduation and contribute their innovative capacity to our industry.”

Not whether, but how

What lingers after a conversation with Hans de Jong is the total lack of cynicism. In a landscape often prone to seeing obstacles, Beethoven breathes decisive action. Moreover, the impact extends far beyond semiconductors alone. The networks, cleanrooms, and educational alliances being forged now lay the groundwork for other key technologies where the Netherlands aims to compete globally, from integrated photonics and quantum technology to advanced medical equipment.

“The beauty of Beethoven is that no one asks whether we will pull this off,” De Jong concludes. “Everyone simply asks: how are we going to do this together? We are going to make it happen. And we will do it together.”