Amsterdam, Netherlands - SEO Economisch Onderzoek

supported by the local stakeholders and hence forms an important stepping stone to obtainregional commitment for innovation. The RIS aims to create the right breeding ground forinnovative companies and people, in particular by strengthening the cooperation within themetropolitan region between regional and local governments, industry and knowledge institutions(ibid: 5). Following the philosophy of the Pieken in de Delta agenda of the central government,RIS denotes a number of clusters and themes in which the Amsterdam metropolitan region isconsidered to have a competitive advantage.3.5 Key clusters of economic activity according to RIS3.5.1 ICT and the creative industryInformation and Communication Technology (ICT) and the creative industry together form acluster because of their overlap and complementary characteristics. ICT is considered the drivingforce behind the development of new concepts and products in the field of new media,professional services and logistics, and which reaches all companies, institutions and consumers.Amsterdam currently has the largest internet hub of the world: the AMS-IX. The creative industryis another sector of crucial importance to the Amsterdam metropolitan region. The RIS mainlyfocuses on the following domains of this cluster:- Media and entertainment industry (broadcasting, radio and television, publishing,gaming, movies, music, etc.);- Creative professional services industry (marketing companies, design, fashion,architecture, etc.).After the life sciences cluster the creative industry is probably the best organized sector in theAmsterdam metropolitan region. Creative Cities Amsterdam Area (CCAA) functions as theumbrella organization for this cluster. CCAA was initiated in 2007 by the AmsterdamseInnovatiemotor (AIM) with a pledge by the region’s local government and other organizations tocooperate. It wants to be a ‘one-stop shop’ for the creative industries and facilitates entrepreneursin various ways (see Box 3-1).3.5.2 Trade and logisticsThe Amsterdam metropolitan area is a global hub for air, road, water, rail and informationtransport and takes a key position in the international financial and professional services.Furthermore, the metropolitan region acts as an inter-cultural gateway between European,Atlantic and Asian trade blocks. Recently, the branch organizations, companies, knowledgeinstitutions, the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce and governments established the coalition‘The Smart Cargo Hub for Europe’. This coalition aims to turn the Amsterdam region into thebest, smartest, and most reliable logistic multimodal European hub. Amongst its objectives is theambition to improve the knowledge transfer between HEIs and industry:• RIS aims to strengthen first class research and first class education in the field of trade.One of the initiatives taken is the establishment of a Research Network for InternationalEconomics, Logistics and Technology (RELATE). This organization would have to actas an intermediary between universities and industry in order to better streamlineknowledge transfer between the two. There will also be close cooperation between HEIsin Amsterdam and the new to build Top Institute Logistics and Supply Chain Campus inBreda.• Another objective is to improve the connection between vocational education and thelogistic industry: this is taking shape in the project Knowledge Bridge (Kennisbrug).63