1. Cover story
The Digital
Dutch
Digitisation is one of the most From the invention of the electrocar-
useful and popular innovations diograph (ECG), the audio cassette and
compact disc, and the introduction of
in recent years – taking real
the world’s first traffic enforcement
world images, sounds and camera (not so popular that one),
scenarios and turning them into the Dutch have cottoned on to digital
electronic representations – and opportunities faster than most.
the Netherlands has been at the However, with CDs now being replaced
by MP3s and streamed music channels,
forefront from the start.
and the Dutch multinational, Philips,
pulling back from the production of
televisions due to competition from
By Cathy Leung the far East – is the Netherlands still
a pioneering digital force? The answer
is “yes”, of course.
16 | access | winter

2. Mobile Dutch Augmented reality
The Dutch don’t sit still for long, that One of the newest areas of mobile devel-
we know; nipping about on bicycles, opment, augmented reality (AR), has
playing lots of sports, circumnavigating been the source of many global firsts for
the globe, etc. And mobile people Dutch innovators. Described as “a way
demand mobile digital productivity so viewing digital information which has
it’s no wonder that the Netherlands been superimposed – or augmented –
has more than its fair share of mobile onto a live view of the physical, real-
developers. Is it odd that a country world environment around you”, AR
with comparatively short road dis- buffs are often pointed to the Netherlands
tances boasts one of the worlds’ most for the latest news, such as:
popular satellite navigation brands, • the world’s first AR architecture app
TomTom? Not once you take into from, UAR by the Netherlands
account that old Dutch knack of foster- Architecture Institute, with 3D
ing creative, technical applications. ­models showing past, unrealised and »
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3. Cover story | The Digital Dutch
future buildings in the urban land- tions. Use a real estate geo layar, for
scape (2009) example, if you’re walking along a nice
• the world’s first AR flashmob which street in the The Hague’s Archipelbuurt
turned the crowd into superheroes, and wouldn’t mind moving there, or
zombies, etc (2010) NUwerk.nl’s geo layar for job vacancies
• the world’s first postage stamps near the very spot you’re standing in.
utilising AR (2011). There’s even a Lost-and-Found Pets
geo layar (a lizard was recently found
Indeed, the global market leader in AR in IJselbuurt, by the way).
is the Amsterdam-based start-up Layar
– creator of the world’s first mobile Digital infrastructure
augmented reality browser. Layar’s Just think, of all the Internet activity
mobile app displays digital “layers” that goes on across the world, a dis-
on your smartphone’s camera view, proportionately high percentage of
enhancing your view of the real world that data could well be processed on
with links, videos and useful informa- servers in the Netherlands. The non-
tion. This could be a scanned link from profit Internet hub AMS-IX, for exam-
printed media that leads you to extra ple, is one of the world’s largest and
digital goodies, or a “geo layar” – a most stable digital exchange platforms.
geographical scanning of your current Interestingly, geography is cited as one
environment with all sorts of applica- reason for the Dutch dominance in
this sector with UK internet hosting
provider, Host1plus, referring to the
Digital Dutch facts Netherlands’ coastline as an advantage;
its “sea borders and ... several tubes of
• The Netherlands has the highest number of Internet users in
the EU, and 94% of Dutch households have broadband fibre optics”. Whereas, the American
Internet access. data centre company Equinix recently
• The Netherlands is at the top of the EU for online banking. lauded the “green hosting” credentials
79% of the Dutch aged 16-75 engaged in Internet banking in
2011 and nearly 4 in 5 Dutch people aged 16-75 do their of the region as a factor for locating
banking online. their new data centre in Amsterdam’s
• Twitter: Every day, more tweets are sent in Dutch than in Science Park. (That and the fact that
Chinese, Arabic and Korean.
• Almost half of all Dutch patent applications originate in 80% of European customers can be
Brainport, Eindhoven. reached within 50 milliseconds.)
18 | access | winter

4. Feature header
Did
you k
n
Childre ow...
nw
comput ho play
er ga
are quic mes
ker
learner
s
Video games “games stimulate the learning
One of the fastest growing industries
of facts and skills, strategic
in the Netherlands, computer games
contribute about €1 billion a year to the thinking and creativity”
Dutch economy, with Utrecht emerging
as the central hub and the base for
Dutch Game Garden, a business centre, Serious games
network and games industry event Besides such silliness, a significant
organiser. (See our Utrecht travel article, portion of the sector concerns ‘serious
page 28.) Popular Dutch-developed games’, where entertainment is sec-
games include Awesomenauts (Ronimo ondary to another purpose, for example,
Games), and Killzone (Guerrilla Games), educational, social or commercial.
but the cheekiest by far has to be the Rotterdam company Ranj are known
new release, Save Harry (MijnGame.nl) – for their business game Sharkworld,
in which players have to help a naked which tests players’ project manage-
Prince Harry escape a Las Vegas party. ment skills as they oversee the con- »
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5. Cover story | The Digital Dutch
struction of a shark aquarium in to the emergency room, complete with
China. More recently, in 2012 the different player levels – let’s just hope
Dutch hospital Erasmus MC started that they all made it to the top level.
using a serious game to help train staff
in the introduction of a new medical Political games
standard. In ABCDE-Sim players get 15 There’s also strong representation
minutes to stabilise a patient admitted from the Dutch in digital politics.
In 2008 Dutch liberal
MEP Toine Manders was
responsible for drafting
a pro-video game report
on behalf of a European
parliament’s commit-
tee. In the report, con-
trary to fears about the
violent reputation of
some games, he
extolled the virtues of
video games, saying
that they “can stimulate
learning of facts and
skills such as strategic
thinking, creativity,
cooperation and inno-
vative thinking, which
are important skills in the information
“ esides such silliness,
B society.” The biggest Dutch name in
digital politics, however, is Steely
­
a significant portion of
Neelie, aka Neelie Kroes. European
the sector concerns Commissioner for the Digital Agenda
‘serious games’” since 2010, she is a strong advocate for
open source software and tweets regu-
larly on digital developments.
20 | access | winter

6. Digital data security
With all of this widespread digitisation Organisations
comes some risks. Indeed it can seem
• PKIoverheid (Dutch government Public Key Infrastructure):
that never a month goes by without a logius.nl/english
new digital data security scare. The • National Cyber Security Centre: ncsc.nl
• Ron Gonggrijp, blog (in English): rop.gonggri.jp
Dutch company DigiNotar was bank-
• The Hague Mobile Academy: thma.nl/en
rupted in 2011 when hackers gained
access to the website security certifica-
tion. Several administrative functions for tram and bus transport that replaced
of the Dutch government also used the much-loved strippenkaart, is widely
these systems – including the DigiID, known to be vulnerable to hacking (to
the Belastingdienst (Department of Tax enable free travel).
Customs), the RDW (Department of
Road Transport), and the Kadaster Indeed the National Cyber Security
(Land Registry) – leading to a disrup- Centre admits “it is a challenge to put
tion in access to services. into place effective ... measures to
ensure that the Netherlands becomes
The security of digital medical records more resilient to threats in the digital
in the healthcare industry, particularly, world” and admits that a “wide range of
has led to several high-profile news incidents feature in day-to-day reality.”
stories; from a badly protected com-
puter discovered at the Groene Hart Holland’s hackers
Hospital in Gouda in October 2012 and And so a more controversial breed of
the revelation in Februrary 2012 of lax pioneers has thrived in the Netherlands:
data storage procedures in the Dutch hackers. Often judged critically for
pharmacy industry. malicious disruption to commerce and
communication (see above), it’s per-
Although hackers don’t appear to have haps characteristic of the Netherlands
rushed to download all this apparently that the hacker community also dem-
accessible healthcare data, they have onstrates a benevolent side.
acted on another digital data opportu-
nity. The Dutch technology behind the Hacker Ron Gonggrijp, for example,
new OV-Chipkaart, the smart card used has used his knowledge of field access »
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8. Cover story | The Digital Dutch
technology to help provide Internet At the same time there is noteworthy
access at challenging locations such investment in the education of the next
as the Ter Apel refugee camp in generation of digital Dutch developers.
Groningen, and the Occupy Camp in Utrecht University was the first Dutch
Beursplein, Amsterdam, in 2011. university to offer an MSc in Game and
Gonggrijp also founded one of the Media Technology, but there are now
­earliest Dutch Internet service provid- several schools and universities here
ers, XS4ALL (now owned by KPN), offering video game development as a
which, in December 1996, enabled specific study. One municipality has
online access to the Belgrade radio recognised the need for greater skills
­station, B92, after the jamming of its to feed the mobile developers industry
broadcasts by Slobodan Miloševi´, c too, and a new initiative, The Hague
and more recently in 2011 provided Mobile Academy, will welcome its first
dial-in Internet access for use by students in January 2013. (See page 38)
Libyian civilians cut off by political
developments. Let’s keep up
Hopefully you’ll find it exciting to be
Attracting innovators living in one of the most technically
It seems that this innovative and cre- advanced and innovative countries in
ative environment also attracts digital the world. Maybe you’ll get to know
pioneers from overseas. Appsterdam, your neighbourhood better through
for example, was a project started by one of the many AR applications, or
American and ex Apple employee, retrain as a video games developer.
Mike Lee, after he grew frustrated by But at least remember to thank the
expensive healthcare and attitudes in ­digital Dutch when you’re streaming
Silicon Valley. He toured the world your favourite TV show from back
looking for the just the right place to home on one of the world’s fastest
start a hub for app developers and all bandwidths. «
the peripheral skills that they would
need. He chose Amsterdam. (And of
course the culture of financial invest- About the author:
ment is here too – his Dutch backer Cathy is a freelance writer and radio presenter on
provided him with the funds.) www.englishbreakfast.nl. Follow her on Twitter @cathycentral.
access | winter | 23