MINDbases in South Holland

The regional collaboration is taking shape, among other things, through the MINDbases of Defence. The first in South Holland is located on the RDM Campus in the port of Rotterdam. A second has now been added at YES!Delft on the TU Delft Campus. The MINDbases are the meeting place for start-ups and SMEs with innovative solutions that can also be of value to Defence. In this way, South Holland innovations are linked to specific questions from Defence, so that products can be tested, improved and deployed quickly. MIND stands for Military Innovation by Doing.

Knowledge and innovation

In order to guarantee the safety and autonomy of the Netherlands and Europe, it is important that the Ministry of Defence has access to the best knowledge and technology that the Netherlands has to offer. The intensive knowledge economy of South Holland has numerous innovative SMEs, start-ups, scale-ups, multinationals and knowledge institutions. However, not all companies and institutions with relevant solutions have yet found their way to Defence. The South Holland collaboration is tackling this challenge.

Collaboration partners

The province of South Holland is working on strengthening regional innovation clusters. Campuses and test gardens are supported for this, for example with the arrival of new test facilities. At the MINDbases in South Holland, Defence works closely with InnovationQuarter, the regional development company for South Holland. They invest in start-ups and scale-ups, support matchmaking and development of innovation projects. InnovationQuarter also helps companies to make the step to foreign markets. The Economic Board South Holland supports the collaboration with its broad administrative network of South Holland companies, educational institutions and governments.

Strong sectors

South Holland is a logical region for the Ministry of Defence to enter into collaboration with. For example, a quarter of the traditional defence industry is located in South Holland. Furthermore, South Holland has the largest concentration of innovative companies and knowledge institutions. This is reflected in the largest port in Europe in Rotterdam, the European Space Agency ESA in Noordwijk and leading new developments from universities and colleges. The collaboration focuses in particular on five technological focus areas that are also relevant to Defence: the maritime industry, space technology, cyber & quantum technology, sensors & radar systems and unmanned systems & artificial intelligence.

Meindert Stolk, deputy for Economy & Innovation of the province of South Holland: “In South Holland, we have a great deal to offer Defence. That is why we are working together within the five focus areas to better position our companies and knowledge institutions and strengthen our innovation clusters. We are convinced that we can use the additional investments in our region not only to further develop technologies and bring innovations to the market faster, but also to make our contributions to the safety and autonomy of the Netherlands and Europe.”

Dual-use innovations

The possibilities of some innovations extend beyond the applications for which they were originally conceived. ‘Dual-use’ is the term used for products and services that are interesting for both civil (daily) applications and for Defence. For example, consider technologies for safe global communication, underwater power cable inspections or for quickly mapping dangerous terrain. The South Holland collaboration helps companies discover this potential and translate it together with Defence. A concrete example is the Delft company Lobster Robotics, specialised in autonomous (self-driving) underwater drones for inspections and monitoring. Their technology is used for nature conservation and the construction of offshore wind farms. But the technology also proves to be of great value for gathering information about threats to critical infrastructure underwater, such as pipelines and internet and power cables.

Innovative companies in South Holland that want to explore what their technology can mean for defence challenges can contact the MINDbases in Rotterdam and Delft. Similar MINDbases are also active in Eindhoven, Groningen, Enschede and Geleen.