Speech Technical and Scientific Attachés Network
Speech by Maria van der Hoeven, Minister of Economic Affairs, at the spring conference of the Technical and Scientific Attachés Network of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, World Trade Centre, Rotterdam, 17 April 2007. Theme: innovation in public safety and infrastructure security; developments abroad.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Welcome to the spring conference of the Technical and Scientific Attachés Network.
Today I will be speaking in English. The Ministry of Economic Affairs won a booby prize last year for using English too much. If I may translate the judges’ remarks: ‘The ministry sprinkles its press releases with unnecessary English words and expressions, holds technology meetings in English for Dutch entrepreneurs and thinks up names in English for its campaigns.’ Today we have another meeting for entrepreneurs and here we go again, in English. But this time since we have foreign guests here, I think it’s only polite.
The new government’s coalition agreement sees technology and innovation as potentially very important in solving social problems. Take health care, transport and safety, for example. So I am glad that speakers from Europe, Asia and the Americas, countries where my ministry has technical and scientific attachés, are here at this conference to tell us about their successes. I am confident that they will inspire new initiatives and collaboration.
The discussion will get technical this afternoon. It should be very relevant to everyday practice, involving clients, producers and researchers. I would like to place these developments and trends in a broader economic and social context. I will outline the problem, say what my ministry is doing about it and finally mention some social preconditions for solutions. Important as innovation on safety issues may be, we must always consider whether it is socially responsible.
Economic dimension/problem
What problems do we face? Break-ins at businesses. Assaults on conductors. Parents of schoolchildren who come to “set teachers straight”. Threats to top executives and politicians. People who take out their rage on columnists. Attacks like those on Theo van Gogh and Pim Fortuyn and murders in the criminal underworld shake our confidence and contribute to polarisation. But the problem also has a significant economic dimension.
In 2006, crime cost the business community over half a billion euros. Experience in other countries shows that a major terrorist attack can cause lasting economic damage, dislocate society and throw entrepreneurs off track. The direct costs of combating international terrorism are harder to estimate, but doubtless run into millions of euros.
Terrorist threats and crime also deter investors. An investment decision of course involves many factors. But we should not underestimate the role of safety. There is a real danger that safety concerns can lead investors to take their money elsewhere.
Crime against business has declined recently; there have been successes in the fight against terrorism. But we still have to do everything we can, at national, European and international levels, to further reduce terrorist threats and organised crime, and make our infrastructure much less vulnerable. So it is important to give a major boost and support to innovation in the security sector.
Solutions
My ministry will work with other ministries to do this, on the basis of the pillars listed in the coalition agreement. I will mention some of our plans:
1) We are developing a long-term strategy for innovation and entrepreneurship, with a focus on using innovation to tackle social issues, including safety.
2) We will promote crime prevention, beginning with an action plan. We will also use generic instruments like the Research and Development (Incentives) Act, innovation programmes and innovation vouchers.
3) In the coming months, we will investigate the possibility of setting up a special security programme. Do the different players know enough about it? Is there enough public support for such a programme? These are the questions we need to answer. If we do set up a programme, it will surely help resolve safety problems and make us more competitive.
4) We are encouraging cooperation between business and research and educational institutions, stimulating the exchange of knowledge and trying to make academic knowledge more relevant to practice in the business community. This is what the Technical and Scientific Attachés Network is there for. Make the most of it!
5) A Centre for Security, Safety and Justice is to be set up by the universities of Leiden and Delft. (Present with a stand) The Centre will be involved in the broad academic and application-oriented study of issues relating to international, national and technological security. To guarantee high quality research and education we are exploring possibilities to cooperate with American institutions with a longstanding reputation. One of them is George Washington University, which I visited in October last year, as minister of Education, Culture and Science.
There are also opportunities in the EU. The Sixth Framework Programme has allocated over 1.4 billion euros for research on safety over the next seven years. As you know, only programmes in which several European or other countries take part are eligible. Keep your ears and eyes open! Today is the day to get a sense of promising directions in international research on safety.
Social dimension/preconditions
Ladies and gentlemen, innovation in safety is only one side of the story. I began by saying that innovations themselves must also be safe – starting with products and services. A system that analyses people’s driving to track down potential criminals must be a system that really only picks out those people.
Innovations also need to be criminal-proof. Terrorist and criminal organisations are alert to new developments, and respond immediately.
So we need smart solutions. Continual innovation is becoming increasingly important. It demands focused efforts by the police, the criminal justice system, the emergency services and, last but not least, our intelligence and security agencies. And it requires cooperation on the demand side. The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations plays an important role here. They have made a start on cataloguing and streamlining the needs of the police, fire services and other security services.
Finally, innovation must not undermine privacy. Advanced detection systems, smart cameras and intensive data mining all involve a delicate balance between security and privacy. There is debate about where lines should be drawn. I for one do not want a society where people are under permanent surveillance and their private lives are public knowledge.
Conclusion
Ladies and gentlemen,
I favour a restrained approach, certainly on a sensitive issue like safety. Blowing dangers out of proportion is counterproductive, but so is minimising them. A sensible approach begins with an accurate description of the problem and its extent.
Innovative solutions can help make the Netherlands safer. But it would be naïve to expect technology to solve everything. If we want to be safer, we must create a society where people can flourish. We need a society where teachers, entrepreneurs, officials, parents and the public in general take responsibility. We need a society that has room for different opinions. And room for people – and ministries – that speak different languages.
Thank you.