“It’s the place where the next ASMLs are developed”; “It’s our insurance for the future.” Or: “It’s the place you want to invest in, even against the advice of many.”
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the High Tech Campus ignited a busload of superlatives. Whether the words came from mayor Jeroen Dijsselbloem, CEO Otto van den Boogaard, or investor Hermann Dammbach, they were filled with praise.
“It’s my conviction that here at this campus, the next ASMLs will be developed”, Dijsselbloem said. “That’s our insurance for the future. We need innovation, and we get it at the High Tech Campus. The many challenges we have as a society, not just here but everywhere, the many transitions that we have to go through, they all need innovation, and much of this takes place right here.”
Dijsselbloem took the audience back to the days of the NatLab, just before the start of the campus. “I’m sure most of you know the NatLab was crucial to the development of Philips, growing into the multinational that it became. When Philips decided to move its headquarters to Amsterdam, part of that deal was creating an open campus here. This concept of open innovation, bringing many different players and their research activities together, has been a golden opportunity for the whole region.”
Champions of Innovation League
Otto van den Boogaard, the campus CEO since last year, focused on the opportunities that are still present. “I see ample opportunities to develop and grow this unique technology park. Our team here on the High Tech Campus is determined. We have a mission. We welcome and support new innovative companies. Through continuous dialogue with our residents and stakeholders, we have created a successful ecosystem, a fertile ground where companies can innovate faster, better, and more effectively.”
Van den Boogaard said that Gerard and Anton Philips already knew more than a hundred years ago “that we can only remain competitive if we work together. So let’s continue doing just that, right here, in the VIP box of the Champions of Innovation League.”
Growing much faster
Hermann Dammbach, representing the investors behind the campus, revealed that outside the Netherlands, everyone “knows” that if you wanted to invest in this country, it would certainly be in a project somewhere in the Randstad. “Still, I decided to come to Eindhoven against the strong advice of many. I have quickly realized what’s happening here because many companies and people are already taking advantage of technology’s opportunities. And we early on saw that Eindhoven was growing much faster than the rest of Holland and many other areas in Europe.”
Dammbach said he and his company are ready to invest further in HTC, “to expand the capacity, to modernize the buildings, to offer more technical space.”
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