News item | 15-09-2022 | 17:00
Never since the start in 1994 have so many innovation plans been approved via the Promoting Research and Development Act (WBSO). In 2021 this concerns a record amount of 7.8 billion euros from more than 20,000 Dutch companies, of which 97% are SMEs. Through the WBSO, they were able to reduce their costs for research and development of innovations by 1.4 billion euros. With this regulation from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, more research into new innovations started and ideas were developed more quickly into successful products and services. Minister Micky Adriaansens (EZK) published the WBSO annual report today.
Minister Micky Adriaansens (Economic Affairs and Climate): “By innovating, the Netherlands can lead the way in important global developments such as digitization and sustainability. And the Netherlands needs entrepreneurs for that. With the WBSO we support innovative starters, SMEs and large companies who are looking for ways to do things better and differently. Especially in difficult economic times you have to invest fully in innovative products and services for future jobs and income. And thanks to this arrangement, Dutch entrepreneurs are doing that more than ever before.”
Nearly 139,000 Dutch innovation projects (R&D) awarded
Through the WBSO, companies can reduce part of their wage costs and other necessary expenses for research and development (R&D). From the annual report FOCUS on research and development 2021 shows that almost 139,000 (+3% compared to 2020) innovation projects of companies for an amount of 7.8 billion euros have been approved.
This concerns 4.6 billion euros in wage costs and 3.2 billion euros in non-wage costs, an increase of 500 million euros compared to a year earlier. With the help of the WBSO, entrepreneurs were able to reduce their costs for research and development of innovations by 1.4 billion euros. The scheme supported more than 91,000 high-quality jobs. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) implements the scheme on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate. More via rvo.nl/wbso.
All-electric plane and robot that applies sharkskin texture
One of the companies that makes successful use of the innovation scheme is Venturi from Delft. They are developing a fully electrically powered aircraft that does not emit any CO2 and is quieter, safer and cheaper to maintain and repair than today’s aircraft. The aim is for the aircraft to be able to make passenger flights (50 people including luggage) by 2027 and to cover more than a thousand kilometers.
The Dutch start-up Qlayers Thanks to the WBSO scheme, it can develop and build robots with which they can apply protective coatings on large surfaces such as wind turbines, ships and aircraft. The fully automatic coating system can produce modern techniques such as sharkskin structure. Less friction with wind or water means double the gain. Windmills generate more energy and vehicles emit less CO2.
More practical examples and information can be found in the WBSO annual report.