Information Technology in the

Netherlands

IT Financing
	About The Netherlands	IT companies in the Netherlands have seen significant growth of late, as the world has become to realize that the Dutch are developing an impressive IT sector. Venture capital has begun to flow into the country with strong VC involvement found in Amsterdam. The government has also been a major player in financing IT by providing funds for R&D and other IT initiatives. Another strong source of funding is the presence of large businesses that have significant resources at their disposal. Venture Capital The majority of venture capital comes from abroad and Amsterdam is a leading center for attracting this capital. Much of this is a result of the strong push the city has made to attract foreign investment. In addition, Amsterdam has several technology clusters where a high concentration of companies can be found. [1] Amsterdam Stock Exchange In September, the stock exchanges of the Netherlands, France, and Belgium merged together to form the Euronext Exchange. This market is very technically oriented and using information technology to improve the market process was one of the leading issues behind the merger. The market is broken up into official market listings, which are more traditional companies and new market listings comprised of new economy companies. The majority of companies in the Netherlands are listed on Euronext although the US equity markets provide access to greater amounts of capital. [2] Government Funding The government has taken a leading role in financing IT initiatives and has pledged large amounts of funds in their efforts. Some of their major projects include the NLG 142 million GigaPort program that is building a second generation Internet infrastructure. This will further the Netherlands’s position as a leading location for R&D in information technology and communications. IBM has already committed to establish an R&D facility. The government is also very involved with R&D at the university level and has pledged substantial amounts of money for IT research.[3] The Twinning Funds The Twinning Initiative serves as an incubator for new high tech companies providing a central location where start-ups work together and have access to a network of ICT professionals. Part of the initiative includes a venture capital fund that has been established to help start-ups gain access to capital. A seed fund for new companies and growth fund for more developed start-ups have both been established.[4] Business Sector The business sector provides another source of IT funding led by such large corporations as Philips, KPN Research, Lucent Technologies, Ericsson, Cap Gemini, CMG, Getronics, Origin, Exact and IBM. These companies have established huge R&D centers that are producing important IT innovation in the country.[5]
	Telecommunication Infrastructure
	Liberalization and Deregulation
	Internet Diffusion
	Electronic Commerce
	Hardware manufacturing
	Software development
	Who Uses IT
	IT Geographics
	IT Financing
	IT Labor Market
	Government Policies
	Legal Environment
	Transborder Data Flows
	Analysis: IT strengths and weaknesses
	Analysis :Impacts on the Business
	Sources and Links
	About the authors

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The MOGIT site	TheKogod School of Business	AmericanUniversity

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Last update: December 18, 2000

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[1] www.upside.com

[2] www.aex.nl

[3] The Dutch Digital Delta

[4] The Dutch Digital Delta

[5] The Dutch Digital Delta