The Delft University of Technology, Wageningen University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have answered Amsterdam’s call to create a new scientific institute in the city.
Their collaboration, the Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions, will serve as an educational establishment that orchestrates public-private projects to solve urban problems.
Last year, the administrators and officials from city Amsterdam brainstormed ways of improving the city’s competitiveness, relative to other world metropolises like Paris, London and New York. The result? An idea for a new institute of applied technology that would create address urban problems while also lessening a regional technical talent gap. In September, TU Delft, MIT and the University of Wageningen won the opportunity to realize the concept with their joint proposal for the Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions.
Cities around the world are coming to terms with their growing economic importance. In order to attract and retain a dynamic population from across the Netherlands and around the world, Amsterdam has realized that it needs to establish connections with other cities and maintain good international relationships. The new institute is thought to achieve these goals. Amsterdam is investing 50 million euros in the institute, while companies like Shell, Accenture and Cisco will provide additional sponsorship.
TU Delft, MIT and Wageningen team won out of a roster of five semi-finalists. Other runners-up included a health and technology a school, a business incubator and a technology solutions institute. Although Amsterdam has chosen the Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions as its top choice, the city is entertaining sponsoring part or all of the next three highest ranking proposals. An independent jury consisted of members who are active in public and private Dutch industry.
Among the participants from TU Delft is Professor Mark van Loosdrecht of the Faculty of Applied Science. “The densely populated Amsterdam area forms a unique living laboratory for developing breakthrough technologies for the cities of the future,” he said in the proposal.
The proposal’s coordinator is Kenneth Heijns, Faculty Secretary at the TU Delft Faculty of Architecture. Heijns, together with the architecture faculty’s dean, is committed to improving the faculty’s connections and getting involved in external funding schemes that promote innovation.
Representatives from both Amsterdam and the respective universities are currently discussing the implementation plan. The first year will mainly give the institute the time to build talent and a project portfolio. Over the course of ten years, the institute will grow from depending on government funds to becoming an independent institution with deep roots in Amsterdam.
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