Budget Day: the government has these plans for technology

The cabinet has during Budget Day announced that it will allocate an additional 30 million euros in the upcoming budget to improve cybersecurity in the Netherlands. The government is also investing more money in research through the science and technology sector plan and investments are being made in technical pre-vocational secondary education.

For the coming year, an investment of 30 million euros should increase digital security. There will be a so-called computer security incident response team for digital service providers. Money will also go towards improving the resilience of SMEs. Concrete steps must be taken through public-private partnerships in a Cybersecurity Alliance to be established.

Another action point is to promote safer hardware and software products. This is particularly important for technology used for Internet of Things applications.

The government also invests 2.5 million euros annually in the Digital Trust Center. This body must help SMEs active in non-vital sectors. Cybersecurity must also improve at these companies.

Education and science

The 2019 budget has made room for an additional 70 million euros for technical pre-vocational secondary education. According to the government, many pre-vocational secondary education schools suffer from less income and money is needed to, for example, purchase modern equipment. According to the government, the investment is necessary due to the rapid technological developments in the business community.

Next year, an additional 248 million euros will also be available for scientific research. In this way, Dutch researchers must remain among the world's best and science can contribute to economic growth.

The science and technology sector plan will receive an additional amount of up to 70 million euros. For 2019, this amount is 55 million euros. These additional resources are intended to close the 'science gap': the Netherlands invests relatively little in science and technology research.

The government is continuing the Technology Pact. It contains agreements between the business community, education and government to reduce the shortage of technicians. The MKB!dee project encourages SMEs to come up with ideas to stimulate technical training.

To stimulate trade, the government is launching Invest-NL for SMEs. With this investment institution, the government wants to support companies that do business internationally. According to the national government, these investments are necessary to further strengthen the Dutch economy and make the transition to a sustainable economy.

Care and climate

The government wants to invest in digitally supportive care and digital skills in the field of e-health. This means that healthcare must remain affordable and accessible.

To improve the sustainability of the Netherlands, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate wants to stimulate innovative energy technologies. The government is also looking at how CO2 emissions from industry can be reduced.