Innovation - Australia
The Netherlands is proud to work in collaboration with Australia in promoting innovation and the sharing of technology. Many innovative solutions from the Netherlands have been applied in Australia and we continue to work together in areas such as agriculture, sport, renewable energy, and circularity.
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Brisbane Olympic Games 2032
Sport is a vital part of both Australian and Dutch societies, with the Olympic Games as one of the most anticipated international sporting events in the world. The Netherlands is excited for Australia to be hosting the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane. The Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games has every potential to leave a legacy for Queensland and for Australia, with its commitment to being climate positive Olympic games with 70% of its energy to be supplied by renewables in 2032. Dutch innovative solutions can play a positive role in realizing that legacy, and the Netherlands aims to involve Dutch innovative businesses in partnership with Australian counterparts to help make this a reality. Towards this end, we collaborated with SportsNL and the Orange Sports Forum to organise a fact-finding mission to Brisbane in 2024 and lay the foundations for future partnerships in the build-up to 2032.
Agriculture & Horticulture
The Netherlands and Australia are both global leaders in agricultural exports and our cooperation has brought mutual benefit to both countries. Many Dutch companies are focused on implementing innovative solutions to traditional problems in agriculture such as with space and water management. Whilst space management is not as salient an issue in Australia, water management and managing labour shortages are both crucial challenges that Australian agriculture faces and may benefit from taking advantage of specific Dutch expertise.
The COVID crisis demonstrated Australia's reliance on foreign transitory labour in the agricultural sector. Innovative solutions to otherwise labour intensive tasks is one method through which these dependencies can be mitigated. The consulate-general of the Netherlands hosted a delegation to travel to Perth in February 2024 and attend the agrifood innovation convention EvokeAg where the Netherlands had a dedicated stand to showcase innovative Dutch agricultural solutions.
Information Computer Technology and Quantum Computing
The Netherlands also has a rich background in IT and the Technology industry with historical contributions such as the CD and Python programming language. To this day, the Netherlands continues to create and promote business leaders in the IT and tech industries. Australia represents a significant opportunity for international expansion in this field as a hotbed for innovation and tech with leading universities and IT companies based within its borders.
Dutch Tech companies in Australia occupy a broad and diverse range of sectors including agriculture, finance, risk analysis, insurance, consulting, and hardware. They also represent varying sizes with the majority of companies being situated within small to medium sizes, as well as a few key larger players.