Dutch science is "lagging behind" due to lack of digital infrastructure, Dutch research council says

While demands for digital and IT infrastructures in research are growing, the Netherlands is losing ground due to a lack of government investment, according to the Dutch research council NWO.

"The next government will have to invest an additional €165 million per year in digital infrastructure for research, otherwise the Netherlands will lose its scientific position in the short term," NWO said on 10/12/2025.

It based this conclusion on a "major inventory" carried out with SURF, the IT cooperative of Dutch education and research institutions.

Among the conclusions, it said the current infrastructure was insufficient to carry on Dutch scientific and business activities, as "if investments are not made, supercomputers, network hubs and data facilities may disappear from the Netherlands".

Based on "criteria and (previous) inventories of the needs of institutions, researchers and others", the NWO recommends new investment to be divided between national and local computing facilities, data storage and network infrastructure, Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructures (AAI) and…