Digitalization: act now, act fast

Due to Brexit, I recently became a Dutch citizen, a move I’d never expected to make. I was therefore rather surprised to feel very proud of my new passport and I’ve come to use it almost exclusively on my travels, not least because I get a kick out of strangers complementing me on my excellent English.

The Netherlands is a great country and I very much enjoy living here. One of the greatest things about it is its burgeoning tech industry. We have so many things going for us, from high tech multinationals to leading universities to a rapidly growing spirit of entrepreneurialism and a government that’s set on building a knowledge economy. It’s a very exciting time and place to be alive. And yet, in spite of all the positives, we have the capacity to do better. In fact, we need to do better because we’re a small country competing on the global stage against fierce rivals with far greater resources.

The source of my concern is the lack of appreciation for the strategic importance of digitalization amongst executive and senior management in our industrial base. Without a doubt, the success of our region is also built upon our world-class software engineering skills. So how can it be that our top management fails to understand the strategic significance of software and digitalization?