Nijmegen hosts working visit National Innovation Platform
31 August 2006
The National Innovation Platform will visit the Eastern Netherlands district on Wednesday the 6th of September. Host will be the municipality of Nijmegen. The members of the platform will be welcomed by Mayor Guusje Ter Horst on the ninth floor of FiftyTwoDegrees. This building complex, with its most remarkable feature being an eighteen-storey high office tower, is expected to develop in the years to come into a knowledge centre where technology (associated with the semiconductor industry, multimedia and ICT) enterprise and lifestyle will merge.
A few of the members of the platform who will be present are Minister of Education Maria van der Hoeven, Joop Sistermans, chairman of the advisory council for the realm of Science and Technology, and Rein Willems, Chairman of the Board of Shell-Nederland. The Eastern district is also represented in the platform by Wybren Jouwsma. He has been technical director and co-owner of Bronkhorst High-Tech BV in Ruurlo since 1981. In that capacity he provides support for starting innovative businesses.
Feedback from the Eastern Netherlands on the Knowledge Investment agenda
The platform wishes to obtain feedback with regard to the Knowledge Investment Agenda 2006-2016 from representatives of regional industry, knowledge institutions and public administration. In addition the members of the platform wish to learn more about the initiatives being taken in the Eastern Netherlands in the area of education, knowledge and innovation.
The platform is particularly interested in the connections that are established between knowledge institutions and the business community and what benefits this yields. So it is not coincidental that the multifunctional building complex FiftyTwoDegrees was chosen as the location. This knowledge centre is rising beside the existing buildings of Philips Semiconductors Nijmegen. Starting on 1 September the semiconductor division of Philips will continue independently and under a new name.
FiftyTwoDegrees
The Nijmegen office of the new company, with its departments of Research & Development, will be the most important tenant of FiftyTwoDegrees. The new owners of Semiconductors have voiced the ambition of expanding internationally in the years to come to become the largest manufacturer in the market for semiconductors. Here, innovation is of essential significance. Semiconductors Nijmegen requires an open podium. The company wishes to challenge other companies, large and small, to collaborate with it, to reinforce the present innovative capacity and reinforce enterprise, resulting in advances in the field.
The philosophy of FiftyTwoDegrees is to facilitate the above ambition by offering a top quality work and accommodation environment where connections can be established between various related companies, knowledge institutions and government offices. This will be made possible by such means as the presence of facilities for the bearers of knowledge and high potential of the 21st century. This will include, for example, a business club, catering facilities, a hotel, conference and expo facilities, shops and wellness facilities.
Information for the press:
The work visit will begin at 9:30 am. From 11:40 to 12 noon the press will have an opportunity to speak with Minister Van der Hoeven. Subsequently there will be lunch at noon with the other members of the National Innovation Platform and the others attending, to which the media are also invited. If you would like to be present during this event, please register ahead of time with Jeroen Balemans, press contact for the municipality of Nijmegen, (024) 329 24 00. More information about FiftyTwoDegrees can be found at: www.fiftytwodegrees.com
