BTIC combines knowledge and innovation strengths for building sector

News - 04 July 2019 - Webredactie

Dutch ministries, knowledge institutions and building sector organisations jointly signed a collaboration agreement for the Building and Technology Innovation Centre (BTIC) that combines knowledge and innovation strengths for the entire building sector. 

Dean Jan Dirk Jansen signed the agreement on behalf of 4TU.Bouw. The BTIC is constituted by three Dutch ministries (EZK, BZK and IenW), TNO, Bouwend Nederland, 4TU.Bouw, Vereniging Hogescholen, Techniek Nederland, Koninklijke NLIngenieurs, Bouwend Nederland, TKI Urban Energy and AEDES.  

Innovation is essential to the Climate Agreement

Last week, the Dutch government published the Climate Agreement. An ambitious plan containing concrete steps which need to be implemented as quickly as possible. “For this, it is vitally important that we have the active support of as many parties as possible” says Ed Nijpels, chair of the Climate Consultation. “The pooling of resources required to reach this agreement must now continue for us to actually achieve the goals.” 

According to the authors of the Climate Agreement, one of the essential conditions for actually achieving the ambitions for the built environment is to stimulate innovation in the design, construction and technology sectors, coupled to relevant knowledge and education on this need from the sector itself. To this end, the Climate Agreement stipulates an important role for BTIC in executing an innovation programme through the pooling of public-private resources. The BTIC is to serve as a powerhouse for the programmatic pooling and organisation of knowledge and innovation efforts. 

BTIC connects and helps

The BTIC aims to achieve open collaboration by and for all parties in the design, construction and technology sectors, government bodies and clients, and with the knowledge and education institutions, in order to jointly realise integrated and supported multi-year knowledge and innovation programmes with impact. 

The BTIC helps to connect the innovation strength of the market to the knowledge strength of the knowledge and education institutions, and to connect these in turn to the investment strength of the government. Not only for the energy transition of buildings, but also in the field of digitisation, circularity, infrastructure and climate adaptation. 

Pooling resources helps bring new technologies and solutions into practice, making feasible, affordable and inspiring solutions available to the people of the Netherlands.