How has a country with just 16 million inhabitants become the 15th-largest economy in the world? Answer: through a combination of resourcefulness, hard work, and acute foresight for what might make the nation rich. Since the 14th century, the Netherlands has played a major role in shaping the world economy. Now the country that brought us such major innovations as the stock exchange and the insurance industry has identified another big opportunity: the services sector.
Recognizing the need to steer the typical conversation about innovation away from technology and products toward services, Minister of Economic Affairs Maria Van Der Hoeven — a power woman if I ever met one — recently focused the country’s prestigious annual Innovation Lecture on this topic. The audience comprised business leaders, government officials, and selected creative individuals who all play important roles in the Netherlands’ various government agencies and business sectors.
Here are some highlights from the event, along with some ideas other nations might consider importing.
Service Innovation for Higher Growth and Productivity
A number of attributes about services are of particular relevance in driving economic growth. For instance, automated services delivered through information- and communications-technology platforms can attract significant revenues from outside a country’s physical borders with relatively little incremental investment. Just look at Amazon.com or the Dutch GPS company, Tom Tom, each of which does considerable business outside its home base. Heightening revenue from abroad stimulates a country’s trade balance and productivity growth. Today 60 percent of the Netherlands’ gross domestic product is made up of exports; additional services could drive the figure higher.
Do, Don’t Think
The U.K. Design Council set up the “Red” initiative to tackle social and economic issues through design-led innovation. They run a “Do Tank” to create prototypes of new ideas for government services quickly. (It is designed…