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On 27 July 2017, Minister Kamp (EZ), Minister Bussemaker (OCW), and State Secretary Dekker (OCW) sent a letter to the Second Chamber regarding the evaluation of the Top Sector Approach, carried out by Dialogic. This new form of innovation policy is characterized by an integrated system approach in which businesses, knowledge institutions, and the government use various instruments to boost innovation systems around nine Top Sectors. The impact of such policies cannot be assessed using standard evaluation methods. Therefore, Dialogic, commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, has developed a new evaluation methodology that can assess the effectiveness and efficiency of policies such as the Top Sector Approach. The methodology aims to reveal the areas within policy organization and implementation where the Top Sector Approach is effective, and where it is not.
Dialogic concludes that the Top Sector Approach has been effective in promoting demand-driven programming of public-private research at Dutch knowledge institutions and in coordinating human capital activities and export promotion. Private commitment and involvement from governmental and knowledge partners have also significantly increased, leading to more targeted use of private and public resources. Given the annual investments of several million, it is considered plausible that the Top Sector Approach is an efficient policy strategy.
Dialogic also highlights some areas that require extra attention in the case of continued implementation of the Top Sector Approach. These include:
- The extent to which direction is given to the development of groundbreaking (innovation) visions has been limited during the period 2011-2016
- Market formation through innovative procurement policies still plays a limited role in the Top Sector Approach
- The Top Sector Approach could be (more) clearly linked to societal challenges. This necessitates strengthening the interdepartmental component as well.
