In short
- The corona crisis puts enormous pressure on the vital sectors in society, while completely paralysing other areas.
- In all modesty, the Twente Board wants to support Twente’s business community in this crisis. There is an information page now because of that, which lists the most important initiatives of the National Government, the province of Overijssel, Twente’s municipalities and other efforts in Twente.
Global Goal
Twente is known for its innovative capacity, entrepreneurship and its way of working together. With each other, with the rest of the Netherlands and with the world. Wim Boomkamp, chairman of the Twente Board: “We know how to work hard in Twente. Working together on solutions, because they are again urgently needed. Together, we make progress as quickly as possible.”
In all modesty, the Twente Board wants to support Twente’s business community in this crisis. An information page was created because of that, containing the most important initiatives of the National Government, the province of Overijssel, Twente’s municipalities and other efforts in Twente. You can also find information about the various emergency measures packages that the cabinet took last week for entrepreneurs, companies and freelancers.
Many major and minor crises have been overcome in recent decades. Twente has great adaptability. For example, the TechMed Centre of the University of Twente has launched various initiatives to support the healthcare sector. From quickly training doctors to developing respiratory equipment which allows multiple patients to use the same device. Demcon, a supplier of breathing systems, is setting up an extra production line to double production capacity since the demand has increased exponentially. Saxion has donated materials and lent equipment to the healthcare sector. All educational institutions in Twente combined provide more than 55,000 students with up-to-date online education. Anka Mulder, board member of the Twente Board and chairman of the Executive Board of Saxion Hogescholen: “I am deeply impressed by the many initiatives from entrepreneurs, institutions and society as a whole. You can see that everyone in Twente is contributing to the corona crisis in the Netherlands. It is precisely at times like these that we, in Twente, develop solutions for the challenges of the world. Because it is necessary, now and in the future.”
Related article(s)
The Twente Board is currently working on a strategy for the future of Twente. The current situation shows the necessity and the strength of Twente. Companies and knowledge institutions make an important contribution in the field of medical technology. Twente has in-depth knowledge and great innovative capacity, which is relevant for the future of society and the earth. Maintaining and strengthening the existing ecosystem is important for optimising economic, ecological and social cooperation. For this, it is necessary to sharpen the focus on the social challenges we are working on. As a result, we will have to cluster both internally and externally, on several carefully chosen themes. An example could be the advanced materials cluster or the robotics cluster. And we can also see – especially at a time like this – that the medical technology, too, is a cluster where companies and knowledge institutions in Twente make a very important contribution to the world. The Twente Board will make strategic choices for Twente in the coming months.