FHI presents FHI Technology Manifesto 2016-2018

“It is right that the government is reluctant to provide subsidies” and “it is necessary to separate fundamental experimental research from financing from the business community”. These are two crucial statements in it FHI Technology Manifesto 2016-2018 that the Federation of Technology Industries presented on Thursday, April 7 in The Hague. In the document compiled by the joint technology branches of FHI, the companies note that the Netherlands has a strong position in the international knowledge infrastructure. In a series of analyzes and recommendations, the manifesto provides directions for policy that can be implemented through European and Dutch national and regional governments, together with companies and their organizations. “The knowledge infrastructure is a crucial factor in our economy and society. We are doing quite well together. That means we have something to lose, but we can certainly do a lot better,” said FHI federation chairman and Simac CEO Eric van Schagen. The FHI technology manifesto makes recommendations in eight different areas: education/labor market, scientific research, facilitating labs, fair trade/market forces, value chains/ecosystems, industry/internationalization, innovation instruments and social responsibility. This is summarized in a twenty-point plan. For example, FHI advocates further reductions in scale in technical education; greater use of e-learning in education; holding schools accountable for the employability of graduates; experimental space for companies that supply healthcare; priority for the biotransition in industry and new instruments for the government as a launching customer. The presentation of the FHI technology manifesto took place during the organization's annual conference. FHI chairman Van Schagen presented the manifesto to two science scientists from the House of Representatives, Anne-Wil Lucas of the VVD and Eppo Bruins of the Christian Union. “As an anniversary gift from FHI to the Netherlands!” FHI Federation Congress Thursday, April 7, 2016 On this occasion it was also recalled that the organization has existed for sixty years this year. On April 6, 1956, the association was founded as 'het Instrument cooperative association' by a number of suppliers of technological instrumentation. In 2016, the federation consists of five sectors for industrial electronics, building automation, industrial automation, laboratory technology and medical technology, respectively. In addition, a number of affiliated clusters operate in the FHI ecosystem, such as MinacNed for micro-nano technology and PLOT for environmental technology. The total annual turnover of the affiliated companies is approximately eight billion euros.