More than 55,000 Dutch companies (27%) actively contribute to sustainability, according to the SDG and Sustainability Monitor 2024. In this study, Innovatiespotter analyzed data from all 2.8 million registered companies in the Netherlands. The high-tech companies score slightly better. Innovatiespotter identifies sustainability indicators for more than 30% of the high-tech companies in this study.
SDGs as important pillars for companies
This large-scale, data-driven research, conducted by Innovatiespotter on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, shows how deeply sustainability is embedded in the Dutch economy.
Sustainability in the high-tech sector
Compared to other sectors, high-tech companies mention the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) relatively often, with SDG 5 (Gender Equality) being the most frequently mentioned. More than 1,000 high-tech companies of the total of 3,000 that Innovatiespotter has identified as being active in the field of sustainability mention a sustainability quality mark. The quality mark of our partner FME is mentioned most often here. Furthermore, the high-tech sector is in the top 3 when it comes to innovation themes around SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 7 (Affordable and sustainable energy). The data from Innovatiespotter also shows that many of the high-tech companies are innovative in energy solutions and contribute to the energy transition.
Data in research
Innovatiespotter has determined which companies fall under high-tech based on the technologies that are considered innovative by top sectors and from key technologies. For the high-tech sector, Innovatiespotter bases itself on our Holland High Tech technologies. Innovatiespotter's AI models are trained on this and classify companies as high-tech when sufficient indicators are present. Their data experts then performed manual checks to verify the identified companies.
