19/10/2015

Monitor Business Policy with special attention to crossovers

The text on this page was automatically translated and hence may differ from the original. No rights can be derived from this translation.

On Monday 5 October, the Ministry of Economic Affairs presented the Monitor Business Policy 2015. The selected theme this year is cross-overs. The analysis 'Top Sectors and Cross-overs' is largely based on the study 'Cross-overs and Industry Policy' recently carried out by Dialogic on behalf of EZ. Together with the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, we have determined the extent to which the Top Sectors resemble each other in terms of their underlying knowledge base. This was examined based on CBS microdata relating to labour mobility between industries. The study shows that most Top Sectors encompass a fairly coherent collection of industries, but there are also notable overlaps. We argue for a sharper focus on such cross-overs when shaping innovation policy, as this provides insight into the activities that can connect innovators with very different backgrounds. Bringing together parties from unrelated specialisations is a promising strategy for fostering new combinations of knowledge.