The Netherlands has triple orange on the skating medal stages; I just filled in the signing forms for our new European project in triple; Brainport Eindhoven ranks third (triple) in the European fDi index mainly because of our triple helix (companies, knowledge institutes & governments) collaboration; and last but not least: the number of international knowledge workers in the South of the Netherlands has tripled in five years.
And yes, the tripled amount of international knowledge workers is the news we've all been waiting for, the cherry on the cake that is called our job. For almost four years I've been working hard - together with my colleagues at Brainport and other organizations (triple helix) - on the attraction and retention of international technological talents for the region. And of course we could measure some results: website visitors, social media, exposure on live & online events. Companies were happy with what we were doing, so there's a result. We were mentionned as 'best practise' even worldwide, so there's something to be proud of.
But we never had the numbers, never exactly, always the guess and never the trend. And here they are. And of course this result is never a 1-on-1 with the projects and actions of Brainport, our regional employers and the Expat Center. But somehow I have the feeling that it all must have added to something, please let me have and cherish the feeling that some of our passion we tried so hard to share with the whole world has reflected on these great, golden results.
And we are certainly not done yet, what comes after triple... ?
Yvonne van Hest,
Program Manager International Labour Market Development at Brainport Development
Program Manager International Labour Market Development at Brainport Development
