Delft and Westland once again top the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Index, retaining their position as the strongest ecosystem for entrepreneurship in the Netherlands in the tenth edition of the ranking. This position has been held since the index was launched.
This outcome is primarily driven by high involvement in innovation projects and strong connectivity of businesses within knowledge networks. The report also notes a correlation between the presence of start-ups and ecosystem quality.
The strength of collaboration between knowledge institutions, start-ups, scale-ups, businesses, investors and public partners in the region is highlighted as a key factor. Kenneth Heijns, director of the Innovation & Impact Centre at TU Delft describes: “the fact that we are number one once again is great news and a recognition of everyone who contributes to this on a daily basis.”
Looking beyond the Netherlands, there is still progress to be made in Europe. In value creation through spin-offs, TU Delft ranks fifteenth in Europe. Heijns points to the need for further effort to strengthen future earning potential in the Netherlands and Europe, referencing remarks by Draghi and Rapport Wennink.
The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Index is compiled annually by Universiteit Utrecht and Birch, comparing ecosystems in the Netherlands using indicators to monitor performance over time.
South Holland has everything it takes to be the innovation engine of the Netherlands. But that position is not a given. Recently Economic Board Zuid-Holland published this position paper, and Do IoT Fieldlab couldn’t agree more.
Recently, Willemijn Aerdts, State Secretary for the Digital Economy and Sovereignty, visited the National 6G Testbed location in Delft.
Today, the National 6G Testbed officially goes live. This initiative offers Dutch SMEs and startups the chance to develop, test and validate 6G applications under realistic conditions – well before the future rollout of 6G. The testbed includes the latest mobile communication infrastructure and is embedded in a network of five regional 6G Field Labs. These technologies go beyond 5G and form the foundation for the development of 6G. The programme is part of Future Network Services (FNS), for which TNO acts as lead partner.
On 22 September 2025, Do IoT Fieldlab had the honour of joining Het Diner at The Green Village, organised by the Economic Board Zuid-Holland (EBZ), as one of the 150 key players from South Holland. Femke Brenninkmeijer, Chair of the EBZ, opened the event by offering a toast with Do IoT Fieldlab’s tele-operated robot.
Thursday, 11 September 2025 called for a celebration! Together with Mondai and RoboHouse we proudly unveiled our brand-new home: the House of Robotics and AI, Data & Digitalisation.
At Do IoT Fieldlab, everything revolves around wireless communication. But last Friday it took a different turn… instead of experimenting with radio signals, we were the ones on the radio.
At Tomatoworld in the Westland area, robots pick and scan tomatoes, UV light fights fungi, and sensors capture real-time data on every plant at this very moment.
In the wireless factories of the future, this is no longer a necessity.
