Innovator in the Spotlight

Towards a more inclusive society to raise awareness of basic skills gaps

In the Netherlands, 2.5 million people struggle daily with reading, writing, math, and digital skills, also called basic skills. These deficiencies make it difficult for them to fully participate in society, such as reading and understanding a letter or buying a train ticket, leading to various personal and societal problems.

Better Tomorrow: Eindhoven Engine projects

The Engine is starting to rev up. The Eindhoven Engine must become a touchstone. For how we are accelerating innovation together here in our region. How we are working together to keep up with the acceleration of technology with new products, services, and solutions to major challenges.

In many places in our region we already have the ingredients: co-location of knowledge workers from different organizations such as Holst and Solliance. With the new Eindhoven Engine projects, co-funded and supported by companies and the Brainport Action agenda, we want to take a new step: to show that innovation can really be accelerated by bringing together experience in combination with young talent, not in situ at a company, but in a separate co-location. Because that gives disruptive action and conceptualization more chance, and moreover cross-fertilization between projects, and thus between different industry groups. The digital revolution will be disruptive in many fields of application. Everything is interconnected and no single party is able to solve the societal challenges on its own. The future of innovation is collaboration in multidisciplinary ecosystems on open platforms. The Eindhoven Engine will also be innovative in how it is structured and how it works.

What is the Eindhoven Engine?

It is not an institute where people are permanently employed. It is a place where projects are carried out, where employees of companies and non-governmental organizations conduct research together with students and employees of the university, the university of applied sciences, TNO and possibly other knowledge institutions. A vibrant, ‘agile’, and inspiring location (and eventually multiple locations!). Not fundamental research, because that’s what the university is for. No, project development and applied research, with concrete solutions for challenging problems and concrete business cases. We are also going to develop a course for disruptive innovation and lifelong learning for the participants in the Engine, and we are also going to look closely at the influence of technology on society, through our Outreach program.

Maarten Steinbuch

Source: https://innovationorigins.com/nl/morgen-beter-eindhoven-engine-projecten/