Finding exactly what you're looking for right away is obviously very handy!
Use of robots, home automation, innovation and the Netherlands — standing still means falling behind, etc.
Link to: Communication
Medical technology, affordable healthcare, ZVG and hospitals, health apps, etc.
Technological trends
What are technological trends?
On the eve of the energy transition, many technological developments are emerging. While so many advances have already been made, it is important that today's innovations give rise to new discoveries. Modern technologies are replacing older developments. Or will the Netherlands' longstanding technological heritage put us back on the map? Think of the windmill — the inventor was the Dutchman Simon Stevin. He made land reclamation possible, and in the near future a large share of our energy supply will come from wind turbines. The whole world will soon benefit from technological developments out of the Netherlands. And the windmill is just one example — there are many more. Think of the Delta Works. Not only the energy transition can halt rising sea levels; they are expected to continue regardless of what humanity does. In many places around the world there is interest in Dutch water technologies. Near New Orleans and Venice, and in other locations, people would love to have a flood barrier comparable to Neeltje Jans. And so trends and developments keep following one another. Today's wind turbine is far more advanced than Simon Stevin's windmill, and the new flood barriers will be even more sophisticated. Technological trends don't stem from the energy transition alone. But because it is becoming a global issue — currently still mainly European — it can seem as though only those particular trends and developments matter. As raw materials grow increasingly scarce, technological trends will remain tied to the energy transition for the foreseeable future. There is simply a great deal to be done. For example: among the raw materials becoming scarcer is uranium. Since uranium is the element with the most atoms, it must be possible to split something else; one technological trend in the energy transition could well be the further development of nuclear fusion. At that point the emphasis will shift to safety. Nuclear fusion produces enormous amounts of energy but is just as dangerous — or even more so — than conventional nuclear energy. Development needs to start now; in roughly twenty years the uranium mines will be depleted, and designing and building a reactor also takes about twenty years.
Technologies
What are technologies?
Alongside the energy transition comes the question of how we will secure our food supply. Fishing at sea is no longer viable — wind farms occupy that space — and on land we are losing large areas of fertile ground to fuel biomass power plants. Technological developments in this field will accelerate rapidly. Agriculture in particular will undergo major changes. An important raw material for artificial fertiliser is running out, and spreading animal manure is on the decline because it burdens the environment too heavily. Taking all environmental aspects into account, a great many developments lie ahead in the coming years. Since the Netherlands is an innovative country, we will manage; technological developments have already brought us far, and will only take us further. In Wageningen, where most agricultural knowledge is developed, they will find the modern technologies needed to provide people with good food and drink. There is a real sense of urgency here: in twenty to thirty years' time, current farming techniques are expected to have reached their limits. The smart move is to start phasing out artificial fertiliser now. This will be easier in some places than others; the Flevopolder is land where farmers have not been working for very long, whereas the farmland near the German border has been cultivated for centuries. There, the soil is rather depleted. There is an old practice of leaving land fallow — simply ploughing it over — and after some time it becomes fertile again. But that system only works when there is sufficient farmland available, and there isn't. Technological developments must find a more modern system: perhaps a good successor to artificial fertiliser, or crops that thrive on poor soil.
Technological developments in the Netherlands
What are the technological developments of the Netherlands?
Much has already been achieved. The Netherlands performs well in the medical field. Equally in engineering — just with ZOAB porous asphalt, and with inventions to protect the environment. In the Netherlands we innovate a great deal. It is already quite a list of achievements: from the quintessentially Dutch windmill and land reclamation and dykes, to the Delta Works — all Dutch inventions. Other technological developments that are typically Dutch can be found in sport. Innovations such as the clap skate, technologies like a solar-powered car that wins the race in Australia every year, and the insight to place a model of a racing cyclist in a wind tunnel — which sparked a revolution in cycling clothing. The way they made that model at the technical university alone is remarkable: the cyclist was photographed with many cameras, and then a 3D printer produced the model. Such developments are typically Dutch and keep us ahead despite being a small nation. Historically, the Netherlands has led the way in shipping and, later, aviation. We still have a share of shipping — not in merchant vessels but still in fisheries — but aviation we have lost entirely. In the development of cars, motorbikes and mopeds, the Netherlands has never excelled for long. We still have the occasional car manufacturer, but it is little more than a workshop; our bicycle industry is larger. However, the Netherlands is an important supplier of components to car manufacturers. The Dutch technologies that stand out at the moment are therefore largely in the realm of sport.
Trends and developments
What are the latest new trends and developments?
It remains to be seen whether technological trends in the future will still be found in sport. There is a good chance that less money will be allocated to technological developments in sport in the future. Because the entire energy transition, with all its environmental aspects, demands so much time and effort, there is a real possibility that the Netherlands, as a small country, will not be able to keep up with the latest sports developments. Priority lies with our safety, energy supply, food supply and keeping us mobile. Mobility is important in the Netherlands; our ports are too large for a small country — we depend on the transit of goods to our neighbouring countries. Perhaps the electric train that can carry containers, with wind turbines alongside the track to provide energy, is not enough, and we still need to develop something additional. Then the container still has to reach the company itself — will an electric lorry suffice, or does something else still need to be developed? On top of this, it is important for the future that the Netherlands continues to develop recycling systems. We stand on the eve of the circular economy; in the future, consumers will not only return empty bottles to the supermarket but all packaging. To prevent vermin in that process, something truly inventive is needed — many packages carry food residue, and the trend will be that we can neatly leave our waste where we bought it. After that things get really technical: how do we develop a system to make that packaging reusable? And in a way that consumes minimal energy. Using as little energy as possible and ideally emitting nothing is entirely the trend — not just for collecting and reusing packaging, but also for ensuring we have energy, food and drink, and can transport ourselves and goods. And all of that ideally climate-neutral. Technological developments are far from over; many more advances are yet to come.
Technological articles by category
The latest new technological developments in more detail: