TNO’s CEO: Innovate or be left behind
Innovation needs scale, not just ideas, says Tjark Tijn-A-Tsoi, urging Europe to act, invest, and stay competitive in global tech.
Published on June 27, 2025
© Bram Saeys - Holst Centre
Mauro swapped Sardinia for Eindhoven and has been an IO+ editor for 3 years. As a GREEN+ expert, he covers the energy transition with data-driven stories.
“Innovation is such when applied on scale in society, otherwise it is clever scientific work,” stated Tjark Tijn-A-Tsoi, the CEO of the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO). His message, quoting the theory of twentieth-century economist Joseph Schumpeter, reflects a pragmatic take on innovation.
In his keynote, ‘Lead or be left behind’, at Holst Centre Innovation Day, Tjin-A-Tsoi emphasized the need for action and investment to support innovation in the Netherlands and Europe, or else succumb to the technological dominance of other world actors.
TNO is the largest research organization in the Netherlands, employing over 3,400 people. It is active in different locations in the Netherlands. It also cofounded Holst Centre, which operates at the crossroads of flexible electronics and wireless technology.
Innovation needs focus, relevance, and money
To Tijn-A-Tsoi, driving economic competitiveness and innovation is about focus. Specifically, having a purpose in light of the current geopolitical and national scenarios. On the one hand, this week’s NATO Summit in The Hague saw members agree to increase their contribution to 5% of their gross domestic product (GDP), with 1.5% earmarked for research, innovation, and infrastructure.
“In the Netherlands, we won’t likely be building tanks, but many of the technologies we develop can have a dual use. It is critical to understand what we are really good at and work on our strengths.” And with such strengths, think of technologies that can provide such dual use.
On the other hand, the Netherlands will go to the polls in autumn, and national politics need to provide answers to keep the nation competitive. A point that Tijn-A-Tsoi raised concerned the decline in R&D investments, which stands in stark contrast to what is happening in the United States, for instance, where big companies are heavily investing.
“The Netherlands spends €23 billion annually on R&D. Amazon invests $85 billion, and that’s just one company. Currently, we are investing roughly 2% of our GDP into R&D, well below what other countries like South Korea and the United States do.”
Crossing the valley of death
The loss of an industrial core — with companies like Shell and Philips that used to be the drivers of R&D investment — is, according to TNO’s head, one of the reasons for this decline. “Although not all of it is gone, and there are new developments, many companies are deciding not to invest in the Netherlands,” he added.
While praising the rise of a solid startup community since the turn of the century, scaling up businesses is seen by Tijn-A-Tsoi as “problematic”. Addressing this valley of death, where startups get trapped because they can’t grow strong enough to expand and bring their innovations to the market, is part of TNO’s mission.
“The purpose of TNO is to bridge the gap between universities and companies, helping to advance innovations from low technology readiness levels to higher ones. This means creating and accelerating new companies,” he said. To this extent, the institute’s venture-building branch will be strengthened in the coming years.
A new approach
Yet, to achieve this, he advocates for a new approach to innovation. In his view, the Netherlands should move from a triple helix framework of innovation, where universities, industries, and government cooperate, to a quadruple helix. The fourth entity? Venture capital can help overcome many of the existing barriers.
“It would help us advance to the next level. There is capital available in the Netherlands, €1.7 trillion in pension funds, for instance. We need to be able to access this money to create and scale companies,” he concluded.