Because the future doesn't build itself — why we are continuing as the Delta Instituut

"For things to stay as they are, everything must change.”
‍- Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

‍The question of technology and innovation

Technology plays an ever-growing role in our lives. Anyone submitting information to the government today rarely does so by letter or at a counter. We expect the government to be digitally available 24 hours a day, and to execute the most complex schemes flawlessly and at scale. The government is therefore more than a collection of agreements and laws: it is the largest technology operation in the Netherlands. Whether that operation runs well determines whether citizens receive what they are entitled to, and whether what politics decides can actually be carried out.

Our economy has changed dramatically too. The technology sector has been the fastest-growing industry in the world for half a century, reflected in the fact that nearly every domain of our society now runs on it. That technological innovation has brought us prosperity, but in many areas it has also made us increasingly dependent on foreign powers and companies.

Recently, that second question has become ever more urgent. With the rise of AI, software can do more and more things previously thought impossible. The scale and capability of AI are growing at an unmatched pace, and with it the speed at which it replaces the old economy.

Meanwhile, Dutch society is not standing still. An aging population is driving up healthcare costs and pension burdens, with fewer and fewer workers per retiree. If we want to preserve the welfare state, we must be able to do more with less. An innovative economy is the only sustainable solution.

Technology and innovation must become Dutch core competencies. If we fail to do this, sooner or later we hit the wall. But if we succeed, we can build a future of broad prosperity, while keeping a grip on our digital infrastructure and continuing to set our own values.

We are optimistic that this is possible, and convinced that it is necessary.

Why? Because we know Dutch history. A history full of examples of having to reinvent ourselves, and coming back stronger. After the eighteenth century with the industrial revolution, after the Second World War with the reconstruction, and after the flood disaster with the Delta Works. Periods that prove we are builders, and that as a country we are capable of pulling off great public works. And not unimportantly: periods that prove progress is worth fighting for, and can translate into a higher standard of living for everyone.

What we have already achieved

Over the past two years, we at Herprogrammeer de Overheid have tried to help build that vision. With the parliamentary Committee on Digital Affairs, we wrote a policy paper for a stronger digital government, many ideas from which ended up in the coalition agreement. We worked on reforming central government procurement, so that the government has access to a broad range of Dutch products and services. And we worked with government organizations on citizen-centered software, to show that building in multidisciplinary teams leads to cheaper software and better public services.

We also co-wrote the AI Plan, to better prepare the Netherlands for the opportunities and threats arising from AI. In it, we argued among other things for a national AI research center, the establishment of an AI safety institute, and a National Agency for Disruptive Innovation (NADI) that can force technological breakthroughs to solve the biggest societal problems. These plans, too, made it into the coalition agreement.

And yet we are only at the beginning

None of these dossiers is finished. On the contrary, their importance has only grown. Our donors enable us to do this work independently. And thanks to these donors, we can now extend this work to even more themes. We continue under the name Delta Instituut, to express that broader ambition.

We do this somewhat differently than others. Those who know us know we are hard to categorize. We publish articles, but we are not journalists. We talk to politicians, but we are not lobbyists. We build alongside the civil service, but we are not consultants.

What we are is results-driven. The questions facing our country cannot be solved from the sidelines. That is why we stand behind the people trying to make the Netherlands resilient and prosperous, until the work is done.

But we cannot do it alone. We are looking for more forward-thinking people who want to build with us and are willing to step into the arena. You can find our open positions below.

We set the bar high: for ourselves, for politics, and for the government. Because the biggest problems of our time cannot be solved by thinking small.

It is time to take on ambitious projects again. To unshackle the government where it has stalled. To aim for the absolute world top in scientific and technological innovation. And to translate that into broad prosperity and a high standard of living, now and in ten years.

The future will wait no longer.

On behalf of Delta Instituut,

Onno Eric Blom