‘Strategic autonomy crucial for maintaining the rule of law’

Van der Hagen referred, among other things, to the recent Draghi report on European competitiveness, which shows that the EU is lagging behind in innovation. Despite the talent available, too few new companies are being created, particularly around radical technology. “There is no time to lose,” the Chairman of the Executive Board said. “We must act now and expand, align and accelerate our European research and innovation programmes.”

The World Future Forum is co-organised by TU Delft. The Forum strives at building a world where technology not only drives prosperity, but also a sustainable society and restores and protects our planet. Among others, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also gave a speech.

Read the full speech by Tim van der Hagen below:

Speech by Tim van der Hagen at World Future Forum

Dear Excellencies, dear conference delegates, It is a great honour to be here today at the first edition of the World Future Forum, the platform that symbolizes our collective commitment to shaping a sustainable and prosperous future. We’ve just heard our EU president Ursula von der Leyen talk about how technology should never be an end in itself, but it should benefit people. Words that strike at the heart of what we do at Delft University of Technology, or TU Delft for short.

We see it as our mission to create better impact for a sustainable society. A society built around renewable energy systems and a prospering circular economy, where people can live in resilient urban and rural environments, and benefit from affordable and accessible healthcare. An important part of that impact are of course our graduates. Every year, new generations of Delft engineering graduates flock from our campus to go and apply their much-needed technological knowledge and skills in the wider world. Many of them will start a career with companies like ASML and Shell, but quite a few will also go the startup route – more of which later. And while they, in a very real sense, are shaping our future, it is of course very much their future – the future of our young, and those coming after them, that this Forum is all about.

So just as importantly, we work on the enabling, emerging and transformative technologies that we need to bring about a sustainable society and a prosperous future. We do so on topics like quantum technology, bionanoscience, civil engineering, water management, climate action, energy hubs and sustainable aviation.

As far as numbers go, we are doing so quite successfully.

Looking at EU funding for groundbreaking and emerging technology and science: TU Delft researchers are keen and active participants in the European Research Council (ERC) grant scheme. The European Innovation Council (EIC) also matches well with the TU Delft approach to research and innovation. We rank in third place in acquiring EIC Pathfinder funding for emerging and disruptive technologies. TU Delft spin-offs are succesful in EIC’s Transition and Accelerator programmes. A lot of them start in our Yes!Delft incubator, or in one of the many fieldlabs on campus.

However, when it comes to getting science to society at a larger, EU-wide scale, there is much more to it than inventing new technologies and the TU Delft campus. Achieving real, impactful change requires collaboration—across disciplines, sectors, and borders. 

That is why at TU Delft we work through thematic ecosystems, where we bring together all stakeholders, from researchers to entrepreneurs, and from policymakers to end users. By incorporating a wide range of perspectives, we can create solutions that are not only technologically advanced but also socially responsible and effective in the real world.

Some of these innovation ecosystems are physically located on and around our TU Delft campus, but of course we also take part in them on a regional, national and international level. 

To give you some examples, our campus houses what is called The Green Village. It is a living lab where entrepreneurs and researchers can test and demonstrate their innovations. You’ll find projects on circularity, water, energy, buildings, intelligent outdoor spaces, and smart mobility here. These can be validated in a setting that resembles the outside world as closely as possible: it is a true living lab in the sense that people actually live and work there. At the same time, it is a rule-free zone, without some of the rules and regulations that would hinder experimentation. The Green Village provides a very important step in scaling up from idea to practice. In line with demographic developments, The Green Village needs replication –  or scaling up –  in order to become a Green City.

Another example is our quantum ecosystem. Looking back, the idea for a quantum computer dates back to the 1980s. Quantum technology TU Delft started at that time with Professor Hans Mooij, a pioneer in nanotechnology. He was exploring how to make nanostructures that behave like quantum particles, in order to research the phenomena that quantum mechanics had predicted. 
Fast forward four decades, and we now have a national ecosystem for excellence in quantum innovation, based in Delft. Founded in 2020, this Quantum Delta links our key knowledge institutions in the field of quantum technology. Moreover, at Quantum Delta Delft, quantum businesses have access to top talent, a pool of researchers, a strong start-up and scale-up community and of course top-notch research facilities. Together, we work to implement the Dutch National Agenda for Quantum Technology. Such an ecosystem would not have been possible without significant investment from the Dutch government. The aim is to solidify and further develop the Netherlands’ position in the global quantum landscape. 

The role of industry in such ecosystems is crucial, as Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi also highlighted in their recent reports. At TU Delft we have close ties with many European industry partners, such as Airbus, Siemens, and Thales. Often, this is in the context of European Partnership programmes, such as Clean Aviation, Clean Hydrogen, and Rail Europe. Such ties are important, not just for innovation, but also for investment and scale.

A good way to achieve scale is through initiatives like the EIC Scaling Club, the community of deep-tech scale-ups and investors that work together on building world-class businesses that can solve major global challenges. One of those scale-ups is Battolyser Systems, that develops innovative electrolysers which can produce 100% green hydrogen. Born from a bright idea in a TU Delft lab, they could be the next big thing in clean tech. Or they could become the next ‘unicorn’ to leave for foreign shores. 

Because, as Draghi noted, although Europe’s innovation capacity is strong, one-third of our corporate ‘unicorns’ relocate outside of Europe. A brain and capital drain we simply cannot afford. He urges Europe to increase its global competitiveness by closing the innovation gap with the US and China. 

Here, I see obstacles in today’s political climate. For one, the current renationalization tendencies that threaten to further the fragmentation of research and innovation policies. For another, the lack of political will to share talent within the EU. Here, we should do well to remember that talent and mobility are two sides of the same coin, in the currency of excellence. Moreover, these factors impede our ability to scale up those things that universities excel at, such as high-quality research and innovation and the promotion of entrepreneurship – things that can help address the EU’s major challenges. 

This then, is not only a matter of competitiveness and prosperity, important as these are. To maintain a just and peaceful legal order – without compromising our European values of academic freedom, open science and the rule of law – we must scale up our innovation efforts in order to improve our resilience, increase our autonomy, and strengthen our defence capabilities. 

There is no time to lose. We need to act now and expand, align and accelerate our European research and innovation programmes. 

Only European cooperation can take us forward. The best next step in the short term would be to further strengthen the EIC and its instruments over the next three years. The second step is to rapidly design and implement a new, fit-for-purpose Framework Programme. 

TU Delft is ready and able to do its fair share to bring innovation and impact, not only locally, regionally and nationally, but on a European and even global scale. We would like contribute to the scaling up of Europe’s innovation ecosystem by sharing our experience and practical, entrepreneurial and result-oriented approaches to science, innovation and education. 
Together, we can strive to become a competitive and strategically autonomous Europe - the kind of Europe in which its citizens can live in safety, health and prosperity. We owe it to future generations, of Europeans, and of global citizens. This is precisely why the World Future Forum is so important—it serves as a bridge to ensure that the solutions we develop can be sustainably funded and scaled to meet global challenges.