IO's week: a sea of innovations
Our weekly overview offers an overview of the most interesting stories around key innovations every Sunday.
Published on May 26, 2024
As editor-in-chief, Aafke oversees all content and events but loves writing herself. She makes complex topics accessible and tells the stories behind technology.
Innovation Maestro's
In the Innovation Maestros series, colleague Elcke dives into innovations invented by the Dutch and conquered the world. Two weeks ago, it was about Bram Nauta and his Nauta circuit; this week, it's all about the CD.
This invention can easily be called a success. 200 billion copies were sold worldwide, and it changed not only the music sector but also the medical world and data storage. And let that successful disc now find its origin in the Netherlands (okay, and Japan).
"Fans of classical music chose CD because of its purity," says Sergio Derks of the Philips Heritage Organization. The story goes that Philips originally developed a disc with room for about an hour of music. But, a director at Sony wanted to listen to Beethoven's complete Ninth Symphony on a CD. And that lasts 74 minutes. And asking one of the greatest composers of all time to shorten his symphony... Well, you only do that in cartoons. So the disc was made a few millimeters larger than originally planned.
The ocean!
From the cd to the ocean. Did you know that the Dutch part of the North Sea is more significant in area than the mainland? With 57,480 km², the Dutch North Sea is about one and a half times the size of the Netherlands. We thought it was time to create a magazine devoted to this enormous but mysterious amount of water.
This coming week, we will share a few of the stories from the magazine daily, but I recommend you browse the magazine. Thanks to the illustrations and design by Marieke Brouwers, it turned out beautifully.
Gerard & Anton Awards
It's almost time for the G&A Awards. Wednesday, July 3, is the day. We put ten startups from the Brainport region in the spotlight for the tenth time. These companies have in common that we expect great things from them in the coming year. The previous nine editions show that such an award helps: the success rate of the former winners is above average.
You can submit startups by emailing our editors ([email protected]). The selection will take place with the help of the public and an expert jury led by Alderman Stijn Steenbakkers. Would you like to attend the event? Then sign up in advance! Last year, we had a waiting list, so don't wait too long. You will be taken to the registration page if you click on the image below.
Here’s what else stood out to us last week:
- Must read of the week: Controlling light to boost energy efficiency, so Stijn Kragt is giving an impulse to the green transition
- imec leads European labs into high-tech future with billion-dollar investment
- ASML and TSMC ready to disable chip machines in Chinese invasion Taiwan
- ASML to invest €80 million in research at the TU/e
- Elcke’s column: What if we dare to let go of the wheel
- ‘The Netherlands must get rid of the Calimero complex around sustainability’
- Usono: From a promising start via a scale-down to reorientation and new success
- Cultivated insects as relief from pressure on our food system
You can read the rest of the articles we wrote last week here. Have a great weekend!
Aafke Eppingaeditor-in-chief Innovation Origins