Innovation, collaboration and earning potential at the FNS Partner Event

Jakob van de Waarden, director of the Nationaal Groefonds, kicked off the morning with a clear message: success requires an outward-looking mindset and the courage to think outside the box. With a nod to ‘landing on the moon’, his advice was clear: work to plan, but remain dynamic and flexible. Dare to adjust your course when the situation demands it. Only in this way can you build a future-proof ecosystem that not only works today, but will also continue to exist tomorrow.

Things got interactive with Peter Rake, programme director at FNS, who used Mentimeter to engage the audience in the motivations behind participating in the programme. The question “Why are you taking part?” yielded a word cloud in which terms such as collaboration, innovation and growth clearly stood out. It provided a valuable insight into the collective ambition of the partners present.

In addition, Geerd Kakes of KPN, a member of the programme board, provided an update on Business Value Management. This focuses on increasing earning capacity as one of the key objectives. A key tool in this regard are the ten value chains deployed to accelerate innovation and create concrete business value.

To conclude the morning, Lupco Jorguseski from TNO spoke about the importance of standardisation and international collaboration. Under the theme “FNS Impacting Standards & Standards Impacting FNS”, he emphasised how the programme not only responds to existing standards but also actively helps to shape them. He also discussed international collaboration within FNS Phase 2, with partners from Finland, Sweden and Germany.

An afternoon full of innovation and interaction

In the afternoon, the focus shifted to concrete applications and collaboration. Visitors were able to explore no fewer than 15 demos and prototypes, bringing the latest developments to life.

There were also breakout sessions on key 6G themes such as AI, Immersive Reality, Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN), 6G Radio and the Wireless Factory. In these sessions, experts and participants explored technological opportunities and their impact on future business models in greater depth. The dialogue between innovation and financing was also explored during a Q&A with a start-up, a scale-up and an investor.

An inspiring keynote was delivered by Anouk Hubrechsen, CEO of Antennex, who shared her journey in the fields of technology and entrepreneurship, and there was ample opportunity for networking throughout the afternoon.

To conclude, Paul Wijngaard, Alliance Manager at FNS, took the participants through the day’s key insights once more and translated these into six concrete calls to action. Among other things, he called on partners to actively contribute to value creation and to raise the profile of FNS research through international conferences, papers and workshops.

The event made it clear that strengthening earning capacity is a joint effort. By sharing knowledge, innovating together and actively connecting, FNS and its partners are building, step by step, a powerful and future-proof ecosystem.