Warmth in cold times: the Gerard & Anton High Tech Piek Awards
An evening in which the Brainport ecosystem not only patted itself on the back, but also subjected itself to a critical self-examination.
Published on January 10, 2026
Bart, co-founder of Media52 and Professor of Journalism oversees IO+, events, and Laio. A journalist at heart, he keeps writing as many stories as possible.
It began with an invitation that was as light-hearted as it was telling. “Come a little closer,” Bert-Jan Woertman and Beatrix Bos called out to the audience. “This year has started cold, geopolitically and climatically.” That opening line immediately set the tone for the Gerard & Anton High Tech Piek Awards: an evening in which realism and optimism went hand in hand, and in which the Brainport ecosystem not only celebrated itself, but also took a hard look in the mirror.
The setting was just as symbolic as the message. This year, not a museum or conference center, but Philips’ former glass laboratory on Strijp-T, now Avular’s headquarters. A place where the past and the future literally touch. “We call it heritage,” said Avular CEO Albert Maas. “But we also build robots and drones here.”
An ecosystem that grows. And rubs.
Woertman and Bos kicked off with a rapid, sometimes playful but substantively sharp scan of the past year. Investments were mentioned, such as the recent €24 million funding round for Shanx, but so was the uncomfortable observation that Eindhoven ranks “only” seventh on the list of the most innovative municipalities. “After Hengelo, Duiven and Moerdijk,” Woertman joked, adding right away that perspective is not the same as complacency.
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That tension ran like a thread through the evening. Yes, Brainport is firmly positioned in the national and European R&D top tier. Yes, companies like ASML remain a major economic engine, with each job at ASML generating an average of 2.5 additional jobs in the region. But no, that does not mean everything will work out on its own. The projections are substantial: by 2050, another 115,000 jobs could be added in the region. The question is not whether Brainport will grow, but how that growth will be absorbed, and for whom.
Albert Maas: technology as an answer to scarcity
The conversation with Albert Maas made that abstract story tangible. Maas outlined Avular’s ambition to become a new European OEM in mobile robotics. “We face labor shortages, geopolitical tensions, and a growing need for technological sovereignty,” he said. “Mobile robotics will play a huge role in that.”
That he pairs this vision with a pronounced attention to design - right down to designing furniture himself - captures the Eindhoven mindset Woertman and Bos were so keen to highlight. Technology only truly works when it lands in society - the message came back more than once.
Beatrix Bos, Albert Maas, Bert-Jan Woertman – Photo © Bram van Dal
Beyond the growth figures: the debate on broad prosperity
Gradually, the focus shifted from startups and investments to a more fundamental question: what are we actually doing with all the productivity gains? Woertman and Bos referenced historical predictions, from Keynes to Bill Gates, that assumed we would work less and enjoy more free time. Reality has proven more stubborn. We work more, not less.
That brought the conversation to “broad prosperity”: not only economic growth, but also livability, well-being, and social cohesion. A theme later taken up explicitly by Stijn Steenbakkers, alderman and jury chair of the Piek Awards.
High Tech Piek Awards 2026
View all photos of the Gerard & Anton High Tech Piek Awards 2026 here.
Picking up the pace, together
In his remarks, Steenbakkers sketched the administrative reality behind the success story. Billions of euros in investments in housing, infrastructure, and public amenities are needed to keep up with growth. Decisions on the new bus station and large-scale expansions around ASML are imminent. “The economic force is fantastic,” he said, “but we have to make sure Eindhoven remains a great city to live in.”
He also emphasized a crucial point: Brainport’s future does not depend only on the big players, but precisely on startups that scale and pull along entire chains of SMEs. “That next phase is critical,” Steenbakkers said. “That’s where the ecosystem’s robustness lies.”
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People at the center
That dovetails seamlessly with the heart of the evening. The Gerard & Anton Awards, now presented for the ninth time, are not about the loudest founders or the biggest deals, but about the people who connect, drive, and enable. Teachers, program makers, community builders, and the quiet forces that keep the ecosystem together.
After these introductory stories, the main program could begin: the awards ceremony itself. IO+ has already reported extensively on that part of the evening, including the jury reports and the eventual winner of the High Tech Piek Award 2026. But anyone who listened closely to Woertman, Bos, and Steenbakkers already knew what the evening was really about.
Ultimately, it’s about the shared task of the years ahead. With confidence, yes. But also with the awareness that growth only has value when it is broadly shared - and that warmth, even in cold times, is created above all when people manage to find each other.