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Border Sessions - Out of Chaos edition

The Border Sessions Out of Chaos edition is an in-person event at The Grey Space in the Middle in The Hague on Nov. 2.

Technology is key to keeping pace with the growing need for a strong and trustworthy relationship between the government and the public. We believe that we can unite all parties in a dynamic collaboration to stimulate civic connection. The GovTechNL programme accelerates the development of new products, systems and concepts for bright and positive cooperation in the public domain. We strive to play a leading role and are highly motivated to grow the best possible community for civic innovation.

GovTechNL is full of events and activities for different types of collaboration! We brought the community together at The Hague Tech on September 13 for an interactive session where all participants had a chance to share their ideas and collaborate with others who are enthusiastic about tech in government.

The objectives of the last interactive session were: 

Bring people together to further develop the GovTechNL community

Articulate the purpose, function and what is possible for GovTechNL

The session was facilitated by Matt Barnaby and Svitlana Khrystenko, who led the crowd through a series of activities to foster brainstorming and active interactions between participants.

The session began with the quick speed networking. Participants were tasked to find a partner and talk on a certain topic for 2 minutes, then switch to another participant. The questions included: 

If you were to implement a new law what could it be?

All your non-work related apps vanish - what is the first one you reinstall and why?

After an energetic start the crowd divided into several small groups to ensure active participation. They now brainstormed on these questions: 

How can we make sure that GovTechNL is the worst possible thing you've been involved in?

What do we need to do as a community to prevent it from happening?

At the end of the exercise, they presented their outcomes. Several important outcomes were:

Throughout the session participants also created inspiring messages to themselves as they were writing them 2 years later. What was achieved during these 2 years at GovTechNL? What are we proud of? What lessons did we learn along the way that we'd like to advise our current 2022 selves on? You can find the full cards on 

 where we collected all the results from the in-person session. 

The challenge that GovTechNL faces now is in bringing the public and the government together to accelerate the development of new products, systems, and concepts for bright change in the society. The last activity helped participants think about this challenge from the perspective of opportunities. With how might we questions, they turned challenges into opportunities. With what if we questions, they continued thinking about possible solutions and dropped some valuable ideas on how to go about pursuing these opportunities.

This session was a first step toward creating an innovation hub dedicated to collaboration between the public and the government. According to the steering committee on the initiative, which will meet in the coming weeks, many more announcements are forthcoming, including news of the official launch of a new brand identity, participation in the GovTech summit and more. We look forward to hearing your thoughts about this initiative and hope that you will participate in its development.

GovTechNL is full of events and activities for different types of collaboration! We brought the community together at The Hague Tech on September 13th  for an interactive session, where all participants had a chance to share their ideas and collaborate with others who are enthusiastic about tech in government.

Co-creation is key to innovation

Daniël Steginga and Alwin Veldboom have supported the Municipality of The Hague with formulating a Challenge for Startup in Residence with the Worldstartup Challenge Discovery & Definition process. Startups can now register until 12th of May 2022 with a solution to the question: how can we make it easier for people with occupational limitations to find a suitable job and to fill it in a sustainable way?

The Municipality of The Hague wants to help more people with occupational limitations find work. There are approximately 25,000 job seekers in the Municipality of The Hague. These are people who ask the municipality for help and receive financial support. More than 10,000 people with occupational limitations are still looking for a job.

Social issues can be complex, solutions cannot only be conceived and developed internally within a single organization. There is a need for collaboration with outside parties, such as start-ups or scale-ups. To recruit and select the right parties, the first step was to clarify and formulate the challenge. For this reason, the Challenge Discovery & Definition trajectory was introduced. In Discovery sessions, we discussed the various challenges surrounding an inclusive labor market in The Hague, with various groups of colleagues within the municipality. A shortlist of topics was made, based on certain criteria, which were used as the focus during each Definition session. Possible challenge questions were formulated, the scope and the innovation objective was determined, solution criteria and success factors were devised, stakeholders identified and an extensive Challenge briefing was drawn up.

Successful innovation projects start with a clearly defined (social) challenge and involvement of internal and external innovators. Looking for a good start to your innovation project or program? WorldStartup and Outside Inc. are very happy to support you further.

Daniël Steginga and Alwin Veldboom have supported the Municipality of The Hague with formulating a Challenge for Startup in Residence with the Worldstartup Challenge Discovery & Definition process.

Governments' innovation starts with understanding your challenges

Dates

International and The Hague-based students, professionals, startups, enthusiastic individuals, teams, engineers, programmers, designers, business and tech experts from any other relevant field per challenge.

For whom

Opportunity lead

Hackathon for Good - The Hague 

Hackathon for Good is an open invitation to anyone who is interested in solving societal challenges by using data and AI.

Hackathon for Good - The Hague

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Next Valley targets purpose-driven ventures that want to elevate their businesses and act globally. By offering twelve months of tailored support and mentorship, Next Valley prepares startups to get ready for the Dutch and other European markets. This is facilitated by validating the product-market fit and meeting with potential customers and partners. The programme helps you build bridges within the Dutch startup ecosystem. We can also help international companies obtain a startup visa.

The Netherlands is a hub for startup success, from creating multiple unicorns per year to leading in emerging deep tech technologies. This success is fuelled by a healthy business climate, an established financial industry, high-ranking academic institutions, and superior infrastructure.

Next Valley aims to bring your startup or scaleup as close as possible to your desired market. This is made possible by constant check-ups with one of the WorldStartup support managers, dedicated mentorship, expert office hours, online academies & individual training, monitored progress, and last but not least, peer-to-peer support within our network of founders.

: Our programme lasts for 12 months from the moment of a positive response from IND about your Startup Visa, which usually takes about 6-8 weeks for IND to make the decision.

session to discuss your current stage of development and draw a roadmap (Day One);

Dedicated mentorship for a period of 12 months;

Progress monitoring tools and personalised reports on your progress;

Access to our own and/or partners' events;

Exclusive meetups for peer-to-peer learning among impact-driven founders;

Opportunity for co-creation projects with our business partners;

Reduced fee to participate in Market Readiness training (organised multiple times throughout the year);

For international companies: startup visa for a period of 12 months (possibility of prolonging if you are successful in The Netherlands).

Purpose-driven entrepreneurship (social impact + motivated team);

Innovative solution and scalable business model fit to prosper in the Dutch market;

For international companies: proof of funds (16K or 21K euros in savings) is necessary for a startup visa application.

This is a non-equity paid programme that implies:

One-time fee for visa support (if needed) of €500 or €750;

Access to one of the hubs from The Hague - Rotterdam area (price & conditions may vary);

A monthly fee of €500,- for 12 months for which your startup will get:

mentoring, training, and intensive networking;

access to the community and network of WorldStartup.

This relationship contains no investment from WorldStartup.

A 12-month programme for startups and scaleups with an opportunity to obtain your startup visa in The Netherlands.

Ventures aiming to scale up to the European market

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Next Valley

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Ivana Dvořáková, founder of Terraz Food

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Expert Talk #2 - Master the art of storytelling

Learn how to improve yourself and your startup from straightforward meetings with real experts.

Startup Tuesday with GovTech NL

Startup Tuesday is a monthly event to inspire and connect like-minded entrepreneurs. This edition is a collaboration with GovTech NL. 

Partners of the GovTech NL

These and many other companies work together to ensure the hub is achieving its objectives.

Contribute to the transition. Join the community

GovTech NL

Centre for Civic Innovation

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Do you think your startup is a match? 

Opportunity for startups

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About GovTech NL

GovTech NL is set to contribute to the innovation of our public sector.

Partners of Sustainable Aviation

This hub is a part of the Airport Technology LAB (ATL). ATL is supported by EFRO/ Kansen voor West.

Contribute to the transition. Meet RHIA or view our projects

Sustainable Aviation

Together We Make Innovation Fly

We innovate for

The future of aviation. To make it more sustainable and easier. 

” The idea for the company surfaced during his Masters where he worked on a project for Indonesia. During this project Rushabh was working on how to use plastic waste, which was abundant in Indonesia, and how to solve the issue of unsafe constructions. That is where he decided to design a brick that can be manufactured anywhere and people can use it, making it a solution for both problems. He saw a great potential for the project to be applied, strengthened by the positive feedback he received from his peers and professors. “

If there is a possibility of this happening, I want to take it up right now.

” Rushabh recalls his mentality being at the time. Seeing as he had just graduated his Masters, he had more time, less responsibilities, and he was very passionate about this project. “

I see a big necessity for such a project.

” Rushabh grew up in Mumbai, India. He studied to become an architect, and was deeply afflicted by how a majority of the city’s population lived in squatter settlements, and why architects or the architectural profession were not able to cater to these people. “

Besides it having been a successful project during my Masters, it is also the emotional side of knowing the context of where I grew up that motivates me.

” He came to The Netherlands in 2016, where he did his Masters at TU Delft. “

I hadn’t planned much in advance, but I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, so things just happened the way they happened.

It’s not just ment as a product, but something that enables people to unlock their capability of building their own house, and being able to afford their own house, while also being a hope for reducing pollution, and in that way also creating jobs.

In July 2019, Rushabh came into contact with WorldStartup. This happened coincidentally as his business partner Frans Taminiau knew Hub Jongen, the Startup Support Director at WorldStartup. WorldStartup saw the potential in “Conscious Designs”, and their views on impact were aligned. Rushabh mentions that the things that WorldStartup helped him the most with were making them feel comfortable as entrepreneurs, being patient with them, while also giving them really good training and mentorship. “

They followed up on us, and made sure that we were focused on the impact that we wanted to create.

” They gave them the tools to make their approach sharper. “

WorldStartup was more about lifting us rather than protecting us.

” is how Rushabh describes his company’s value. Not just as a product, but something that enables people to unlock their capability of building their own house, and being able to afford their own house, while also being a hope for reducing pollution, and in that way also creating jobs. “

Something that can serve people by helping people help themselves.

” The brick prototypes that Rushabh’s company currently produces in Rotterdam are made from waste plastics that they get from partnerships. One of their biggest partnerships is with a textile manufacturing company that has around 300 kilos of plastic waste every month. Currently they are doing a project in Ghana. Despite wanting to implement this project in Mumbai, Rushabh has done some analyses and came to the conclusion that it requires a lot more planning, as land is expensive and there are more challenges to overcome. That is why he thinks that before implementation in Mumbai, they will most likely develop their project in some smaller cities in India. Besides their project in Ghana, they have also explored ideas of bringing the project to Kenya, Malawi and Mexico, but they have decided to focus on one community first. The way they get plastic waste in African countries is different from in Europe, In Ghana, they are going to be working with informal waste recycling organisations in Accra to source their plastic waste, while supporting the local informal economy.

Rushabh is inspired by people who are less fortunate. A lot of people have the skills to help the people in need, but they either lack the motivation to use their skills in those sectors or circumstances hold them back. “

If I really want something to change, and I become the first domino to fall, I just need to do that once successfully and then the rest can follow.

” When asked about his greatest achievement thus far, Rushabh said that it has been about inspiring people, and being able to speak about these issues of waste plastic and affordable housing on global platforms. “

A lot of people have said that it is nice that younger people are taking up the fight against these problems.

” But Rushabh also mentioned that in terms of the company, achievements are not yet there, they have not made that impact yet. But someday they will.

Currently, Unibrick is a collaboration between “Conscious Designs” and “Community Plastics”, founded by Frans Taminiau, who is the founder of “Masters That Matter.” These companies together are going to create a new company which is going to be launched the coming months. The milestones for this year are therefore also setting up this company, andalso setting up a pilot project in Ghana in the next year and half. For the future, Rushabh’s goal is to have built over a million constructions with Unibricks in the next 10–15 years.

When asked what his main challenges were, he mentioned that as an architect, he was not trained to be an entrepreneur. “

There is no entrepreneurial course that is given to you at Architecture school in which you start thinking of your own ideas, from a concept level to an implementation level, while also thinking of all the other puzzle pieces of how a startup works.” Rushabh mentions his architectural studies.

“I knew I had the passion, but I had to learn the skills, and I am still learning.” For future entrepreneurs, and people looking to start a startup, Rushabh’s advice is to hang in there “It is a long run, not a sprint”, and also “It will always take more time and more money than you expect it to, but the journey is worth it.”

During this project Rushabh was working on how to use plastic waste, which was abundant in Indonesia, and how to solve the issue of unsafe constructions.

Taking on the fight of waste plastic and affordable housing on a global level with ‘Conscious Designs’

Khach and Natalya are co-founders of Scimagine, a startup which has developed an innovative cloud-based platform for categorised experimental data, structured and stored in the form of searchable databases. They joined the WorldStartup Altitude program in May. Here is an overview of their 2021 startup journey.

“The year started... not so well. We went through many challenges related to COVID restrictions. But instead of agonizing over the bad things we focused on putting our energy into our work, our startup to change something in the world that we can change.

We usually work a lot since we don’t really separate our life and work. As a family of entrepreneurs, our work becomes our life and the other way around, so we always stay very connected to what we do.  

This year we had many positive changes in our business as well as in personal life. We have raised a $250 thousand fund, just 2 days after Khach’s surgery. We have joined the WorldStartup Altitude community, attended the Market Readiness Program, and have met with many great, enthusiastic, and passionate people during it.    

We feel that this year we grew a lot and we have dramatically expanded our network with like-minded people, which is the most valuable achievement of the year. As for the, we realised that you cannot just get lost in the abundance of problems that surround you. Just focus on what you can change in the world into something better and invest your time and energy into that. It will give you a nice purpose, motivation and fulfillment. 

For 2022, we are looking forward to exploring the Netherlands, Dutch Universities and Research Institutions landscape. Not only will our business expand its market, but we will also be positively challenged by the new culture and people.”

We are thankful to have had the chance to listen to Natalya and Khach’s personal story and eager to continue our joint WorldStartup journey!

Startup Spotlight - Khach and Natalya from Scimagine

Startup Tuesday

We kick off the new season with a talk by Daniela Arias and Alejandro Ortega, the founders of Sibö B.V., a company focusing on revolutionizing food production using crickets.

Startup Tuesday with Rotterdam the Hague Innovation Airport

Startup Tuesday is a monthly event to inspire and connect like-minded entrepreneur. his edition is in collaboration with Rotterdam the Hague Innovation Airport.

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This two-month online training, packed with highly intense and result-oriented sessions, prepares impact-driven startups for their expansion to the European market through The Hague's ecosystem in the Netherlands.

As part of the ongoing Indo-Dutch collaboration in the Agriculture Sector, 11 Ag, Food and Tech startups from India have been chosen to participate in the Digital Soft Landing Programme this autumn. This 4-step program aims to help Indian AgFood Tech startups validate their European value proposition through training and stakeholder introduction sessions with the local AgFood ecosystem in the Netherlands.

Meet the eleven ambitious startups from the Indian Agri & Food Tech sectors ready for their European expansion.

Nail the European market in 4 simple steps

We help you explore the Dutch startup ecosystem and provide you with market information on your sector. Once completed, you will enter the second step of the programme, where you will be given market preparation training on developing your value proposition for the European market. The next step consists of validating your developed value proposition with experts from the local ecosystem to refine this further and find the right market fit. Lastly, once you have a clear idea of how to enter the European market, our team will help you prepare a tailored roadmap for European expansion.

 Digital Fact Finding sessions to explore and learn about the AgFoodTech ecosystem

 Market readiness training to refine your value proposition tailored to the European market

 Match Making with local players in the ecosystem to validate your European value proposition 

 Develop a tailored European expansion plan 

The Hague is a throbbing city with millions of possibilities. There are passionate funding organisations that can back social and for-profit ventures.

— Avinash Kulkarni, CSO at Kaizen Secure Voiz (India)

The Digital Softlanding Programme is executed by a coalition of public and private organizations, such as 

The Royal Dutch Embassy of the Netherlands

. This coalition brings the right experience for Indian AgfoodTech start-ups to ensure successful expansion to the Netherlands and soft landing into the local AgFoodTech Ecosystem.

This program aims to help Indian AgFood Tech startups validate their European value proposition through training and stakeholder introduction sessions with the local AgFood ecosystem in the Netherlands.

Details

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Hackathon for Good - The Hague

Digital Soft Landing Programme - Focus: Indian AgFood Tech

Futurepreneurs Dutch Open

Impact Mentors

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