Lifeport region Arnhem-Nijmegen presented its Talent Plan as a contribution to the National Reinforcement Plan Microchip talent last Thursday in Nieuwspoort in The Hague. With this, the Lifeport region aims to support the cabinet's goal to train additional technical talent for the microchip industry, as part of project Beethoven. The talent plan for the Arnhem-Nijmegen region was drawn up by companies, authorities and knowledge institutes and should result in some 6,320 extra talents from mbo, hbo and wo until 2030. In addition, the Lifeport Chiptech Academy was launched, which allows educational institutions, companies and authorities to work together more effectively to strengthen the Dutch semiconductor industry.
An extra talent plan for project-Beethoven
Through these initiatives, Lifeport – the innovation network centred on Arnhem and Nijmegen – is responding to the national need for talent in the rapidly growing semiconductor sector. This sector is of strategic importance to the Netherlands and the EU, as recognised by the government in its Beethoven Plan. To promote the training of talent, the government selected four regions, but Arnhem-Nijmegen was not among them. Nevertheless, the triple helix in the Lifeport region has seized this momentum to demonstrate to the government the additional contributions the region wishes to make.
Knowledge institutions such as Radboud University, HAN University of Applied Sciences, ROC Nijmegen and the Chip Integration Technology Centre (CITC) are already training many people for their own region and for other regions such as Brainport. Through a joint effort set out in the Talent Plan, which has also been sent to the minister, we are strengthening learning provision, promoting the influx of new talent and improving the match between students and employers. We expect to be able to train around 6,320 additional people by 2030. To this end, we are asking the government to include our region in its ‘Beethoven’ approach. The talent programme we are now setting up is designed for the next ten, twenty and thirty years. If we do not act now, we will face a labour shortage in the future. Demand for chips continues to grow and will continue to do so in the coming years. That is why well-trained skilled workers remain essential.
Launch of the Lifeport Chiptech Academy
The Lifeport Chiptech Academy will function as a network of companies, public authorities and knowledge institutions, including vocational, higher vocational and university-level education. The Academy will therefore play a key role in the roll-out of the Talent Plan and will be physically based at the Noviotech Campus in Nijmegen, amongst leading semiconductor companies such as Nexperia, NXP and Ampleon.
The collaboration within the Lifeport Chiptech Academy offers opportunities for the whole of the Netherlands. The Academy aims to support talent, both nationally and internationally, by providing targeted study opportunities in the semiconductor industry. The Academy will develop initiatives for further education and training and promote the retention and progression of talent within the sector. Through a joint national effort, we are addressing learning needs, encouraging the influx of new talent and improving the match between students and employers.
Through the Talent Plan and the Lifeport Chiptech Academy, we are emphasising the importance of strategic cooperation between the regions as part of a national approach to strengthening the semiconductor sector and the Netherlands’ earning capacity.
Lifeport Arnhem Nijmegen Region
Arnhem-Nijmegen is the Netherlands' second region in the field of semiconductors, with four of the six largest chip companies. The total annual turnover of the Gelderland semicon cluster is around €3.5 billion, accounting for over 10% of the total semiconductor sector in the Netherlands. This makes the region the largest in the Netherlands for chip development and production, with leading companies such as NXP, Nexperia, Besi and Ampleon. The Noviotech Campus in Nijmegen is home to the only chip factory in the Netherlands, which has been supplying billions of chips around the world for decades. The region's strong knowledge infrastructure includes educational and knowledge institutions such as Radboud University, HAN University of Applied Sciences, ROC Nijmegen, Rijn IJssel, the unique Chip Integration Technology Centre (CITC) and OnePlanet. Together from the existing ecosystem of business and education, they ensure that talent is trained relatively quickly and at all levels, both for their own region and for neighbouring areas such as Eindhoven and Twente.
