“It’s about time for Brainport 2.0”, says Sjoerd Romme, professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Department of IE&IS. “In the past ten years, the region did a fairly good job of acting on joint ambitions. But now we definitely need a new impulse. Other national and international regions are on the up and up, but Brainport still doesn’t know how to properly market itself. It’s suffering from a nerdy image and we’re not as attractive to young people as Amsterdam, for example. Besides, regions don’t build their image and branding in years, but rather in centuries. Well-respected regions like Amsterdam and Cambridge have worked on establishing their image for ages; it’s not something that’s fixed in a decade or so. Still, Eindhoven is on the right track. Internationally especially, Brainport is doing increasingly well.”

“The greatest challenge Brainport is facing lies in its knowledge infrastructure. Large part of that infrastructure -think TU/e and TNO- receives public funding and is under pressure. As far as businesses are concerned, the knowledge infrastructure in this region is still too dependent on a few major companies of which we’re not even sure whether or not they’ll still be here twenty years from now. Take Philips, for example. It’s mainly investing in production and research facilities in Asia and other parts of the world. So we’ll have to focus on the development of alternatives, meaning at least two major new system companies with their respective supply chains. Apart from that, this region is missing clout from its local government. The recent advisory report ‘Strong rule in Brabant’ only offers a limited solution to the problem by dividing Southeast Brabant into thee ‘cities’. To me, a potential three-way division of Southeast Brabant is too easy. Looking at municipal services and facilities there’s so much to gain, but then all Southeast Brabant municipalities should merge into one Great Eindhoven.”

“On the other hand, we need a solid base and livability standard on a neighborhood, district, and village level: the local democracy must be enforced, or else municipalities and citizens will drift too far apart. That’s currently the number one fear of smaller municipalities: will Eindhoven overrule their interests? It has to be clear that investments in the Eindhoven campus aren’t made at the expense of garbage collection in Eersel or the restoration of roads elsewhere. With elected representatives and neighborhood associations the void between individuals and municipalities could be filled. There are a number of solutions for an advanced democratization of local government, and I think experimenting with that is the key to Brainport 2.0. However, that would mean municipal organization have to be prepared to make a U-turn. It’s up to them to follow the region and be innovative as well.”

“Finally, improved coordination of the various collaborations – preferably through a political body - should pave the way for Brainport 2.0. There are dozens of local initiatives concerning open innovation and cooperation, and that’s part of what our region does, of course. The local government should facilitate such initiatives, but also invest in the promotion of a joint ambition. Keep talking to citizens and things will unfold as they should. We can’t just sit there and wait, especially not now. Eindhoven is a wonderful region to study, work, and live, it’s time for us to be proud of that.”