News item | 24-10-2023 | 16:42
Due to additional public and private investments in innovative digital technology, modern rules for digital markets and greater availability of fast digital infrastructure, the five government goals for the digital economy came closer last year. For example, more Dutch people (from 91% to 98%) have access to gigabit internet and 80% of SMEs (from 75.3%) apply a basic level of digitalization. This is evident from the 2023 progress report government strategy for Digital Economy from Minister Micky Adriaansens (Economic Affairs and Climate), which the Council of Ministers has agreed to.
The government has set five ambitious goals in 2022 for accelerating digitalization by SMEs, more digital innovation and skills, well-functioning online markets, a strong digital infrastructure in the Netherlands and improving cybersecurity. These should, among other things, ensure that by 2030 every consumer and every company has access to the internet at a speed of at least 1 Gigabit per second and that 95% of SMEs are committed to digitization.
Minister Micky Adriaansens (Economic Affairs and Climate): “It is good to see that we continue to make progress with digitalization. In my opinion, there are various points of interest for both government and business. Our cybersecurity awareness is improving, but small SMEs in particular are not taking enough action to report online risks and make cybersecurity part of their business operations. In addition, global technological developments in areas such as AI, data sharing and cloud are moving so quickly that the Netherlands and the EU are lagging behind. We must catch up economically, in terms of knowledge and in terms of regulation of opportunities and risks with targeted steps.”
Digitalization in business
Entrepreneurs and researchers have been helped to accelerate digitalization through European and national funding. For example, significant public investments in digital innovation have been made through the National Growth Fund. And through the European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs), funding has been made available for digitalizing the manufacturing industry.
In addition, the government aims to increase the use of advanced digital technologies – such as cloud, artificial intelligence and big data – within SMEs to at least 75% by 2030.
Availability of fast fixed networks improved, attention to mobile
The 2023 progress report of the government strategy for Digital Economy can be read here. The government’s ambitions in the field of digitalization are derived from the EU goals for 2030. From the recently published annual EU Digital Decade overview shows that the Netherlands is well on its way to achieving these goals and is still a European digital leader.