IO+ Week: Vote for the future!

This Wednesday, the Netherlands will not only decide who will govern, but also whether we still dare to invest in the future. The election campaign has focused a lot of attention on housing, healthcare, and purchasing power, but innovation remains conspicuously underexposed, even though it is the key to sustainable growth, affordable healthcare, and a climate-friendly economy. Yes, there was a good “digital debate” led by Kees Verhoeven, but attention to it remained limited to niche media such as IO+.

There is definitely something to choose from. The Hague innovation check we conducted in recent months shows significant differences among parties regarding innovation in service of a sustainable, climate-friendly society. SP, DENK, D66, ChristenUnie, GroenLinks-PvdA, and Volt score 7.5/10 or higher. The PVV, FvD, JA21, VVD, and BBB perform (very) poorly.

So if you are looking for a policy that promotes knowledge development, digitization, and sustainability, you know where to go. Not based on intentions, but on actual voting behavior. Because don't be fooled: some parties like to talk about innovation, but too often vote against measures that make it possible. This is what it looks like:

Stability vs. progress

In recent weeks, there has been a lot of talk - and rightly so! - about the need for a stable cabinet. But stability is nothing more than a nice and necessary foundation. If stability leads to policies that primarily glorify a desired past (whether it ever existed or not), then we as a society are still not getting anywhere. Major transitions are underway in areas such as climate, energy, water and food supply, health, and digitization, each with immense challenges that require sustainable solutions. Innovation requires consistency, vision, and courage. Not policies that are reinvented every four (or two...) years, but a long-term approach. That means we need to invest in knowledge development, technology, and talent with a view to the future.

Wednesday is therefore not just any election day. It is a choice between short-term reassurance and long-term progress. Between unachievable promises for the individual or a society that will still be livable in 2050. Vote for a party that does not see innovation as a luxury, but as a prerequisite for a sustainable future. And if you don't want to do it for yourself, do it for the generations that come after us.

Vote for the future.

👉 Read more about our innovation check in The Hague:

• The innovation check
• Promises vs. actions
• Climate emergency in the Netherlands
• Innovation in healthcare?

But of course, there was more going on last week.

A selection of other highlights from this week:

• Who is shaping our future? Big tech and green myths
• New industrial policy with a focus on six promising markets
• Scientists grow tomatoes without plants
• “Management in academia must be disruptive”
• Boekbot: AI assistant for personalized book suggestions
• Jo De Boeck (imec): Europe can still compete
• AI Startup Toolkit: how to make your AI startup a success
• Fake or real: can the Netherlands learn from the Danish approach to deepfakes?
• Gerard & Anton Founders Dinner: winning together in the Philips Lounge
• The imec-ASML alliance is all about Moore's Law
• The other potato: Aardaia's mission to redesign crops

Watt Matters in AI

We are approaching November 26, the day of our Watt Matters in AI conference. Everything about the exorbitant energy consumption of AI systems, but above all: what solutions are there to prevent this from getting completely out of hand? Tickets are available via Watt Matters in AI. For those who still have doubts about the importance of the subject, be sure to read our articles about the scope and relevance of the challenges we face as a society.

The (impressive) line-up has been finalized this week, with Gijsbert Janssen Van Doorn from NVIDIA as the latest addition:

A podcast every day

We'll keep saying it: every morning at 6:30 a.m. (on weekdays), a new podcast is waiting for you. In it, our AI colleagues Oliver and Shelby discuss the two most interesting topics of the day. This makes the IO+ Daily the ideal way to fill your head with some optimistic news from the world of innovation and technology. See you tomorrow.

Our other newsletters

Thank you for reading this newsletter. But we have more to offer. Signing up is very easy, for example, via the options block on the IO+ homepage:

But you can also just click on your favorite newsletter below:

• IO+ Daily (Dutch, 1,200 members)
• IO+ Weekly English (every Sunday, 3,200 members)
• Mauro's Green Corner (monthly, 13,800 members)
• Elcke's Saturday Data Dive (monthly, 20,550 members)
• Elcke and Mauro's BIO+ Bites (monthly, 29,300 members)
• Aafke's Saturday CHIPS (monthly, 16,300 members)

Enjoy your Sunday and don't forget that a new episode of IO+ Daily will be waiting for you tomorrow morning at 6:30 a.m. Be prepared when you hop on your bike!