1. Platform Bèta Techniek 15% more Science & Technology Students The Dutch Approach  Beatrice Boots Bilbao, June
Dear Guests,
Welcome to our international summit.
As Arie Kraaijeveld said, we would like to exchange knowledge and experience on dealing with the science & technology matter.
In all of Europe too few students choose a future in Math, Science and Technology. And many countries are dealing with that problem in their own way. I think we should learn from eachother and work together to enhance our approaches and increase our results.
In The Netherland the problem has been very urgent in the last twenty years or so.
Since 2004 a lot has been done on the matter.
And as the Director of the initiating and executing organization I would like to tell you what we’ve come up with and what it has led to.

2. Situation 2004
Lots of good but isolated initiatives, usually not demand driven
No cooperation within the educational chain
No structural policies on schools
No cooperation with businesses
When we started in 2004 the situation in Holland, as I said, asked for serious measures.
The statistics were depressing.
Furthermore, even though we saw good initiatives in het field, most of them were isolated. There was no cooperation in the educational chain. Schools did not emphasize on MST, they had no structural policies to enhance the education or choices of students.
And there was little or no cooperation with industries or businesses.

3. 2004: Deltaplan Science and Technology (1)
“Holistic” approach:
from primary education to labour market
shared responsibility: education, business and government
redesigning education (interdisciplinary, more societal context etc.)
“Bottom up”:
target based contracts, based on policy schools
sharing good practices
Long-term and focussed on quantitative results, untill 2010:
15% more graduates in 2010 from MST study programmes, compared to 2000
in 2007 a clear increase in the enrolments in MST study programmes (+15%)
And so in 2004 the Deltaplan Science and Technology was drawn up by the government and related partners.
And the Platform Bèta Techniek, or the Science and Technology Platform, was installed to execute this ambitious and comprehensive plan.
Main goal was to get 15% more outflow of students from scientific higher education in 2010 compared to the year 2000.
What meant that there had to be an increase of 15% in the enrolments in MST-studies by 2007.
The main characteristics of the approach were: holistic, bottom up and a close link between innovation and focus on outcome.
I’ll get back to those in a few minutes.

4. 2004: Deltaplan Science and Technology (2)
Science and Technology Platform:
Implement Deltaplan, based on yearly plan approved by
ministers of Education and Economic Affairs and Dutch Parliament
Budget:
: 275 million euro
(+ 60 ME extra for specific projects)
The Platform is funded by the government.
In total 275 million euros in 6 years are used to reach our goals.
And in the past four years 60 million euros were added to the budget for additional projects.
So, as you can see, the ambition and comprehensiveness was indeed translated into government policy and allocation of money.

5. What was/is the Dutch approach?
Building partnerships business community – educational sector – government (national and local)
Platform: stimulating, initiating and connecting innovations
Innovation is bottom up
Enlargement and up scaling of ‘Proven concepts’
Chain approach and ‘career centered’
Combining innovation and performance (auditing) of
autonomous organizations – focus on policy
In the nineties we had learned that big marketing and media campagnes did not work. They didn’t lead to changes in the choices of young people.
And we it was our ambition to create a lasting innovation and increase.
Therefore we, as a Platform, chose to become a linking and facilitating part of the chain between industries, educational institutions and governmental organizations.
Between the three of them national and regional initiatives needed to be and indeed were developed and set in motion.
The Platform has different roles in that:
Stimulator (sometimes even booster)
Initiator (especially in national developments)
Advisor
Connector/linking pin
The following aspects characterize our strategy:
Innovation is always bottom up. The institutions, industries and organizations need to want to change and develop themselves, there ambition is leading.
‘proven concepts’ are found, developed and will then be enlarged and up scaled
The focus is on careers, and always embedded in a chain approach. Participating schools and institutions should not stand isolated, but need to see themselves as part of a chain in which a child grows, learns, developes and makes choices, which lead to a career.
Innovation and performance (on outcome) of autonomous organizations
What we try to achieve is a substantial mass of schools, institutions and organizations that have embedded their focus on MST in their own policies.
It needs to be on their agenda year in, year out. Not as projects, pilots or ad hoc initiatives, but as an integrated part of their organization and ambition.

6. Schools as a object of intervention
Not all schools participate, only the ones who choose to make a real effort
Schools are the experts, they decide what their approach is
We set quantitative targets (money is attached to reaching these targets)
We offer them a framework of success factors
We chose not to target children or their parents but to look at schools and institutions as objects of intervention.
But only if they want to be themselves.
We believe they are the experts, they choose there own path of innovation.
But, that needs to lead to something. So we draw up contracts (innovation-performance contracts) in which they sign/commit to reaching quantitative targets. And the money they get is attached to reaching those targets: no performance means no money.
But we do offer the support on their path:
A framework of success factors helps them focus on what aspects can be integrated in their approach or innovation
We enable and empower them in exchanging knowledge and experience (through conferences, master classes, expertmeetings, workshops, etc)
And once or twice a year we monitor and audit them: experts visit the institutions and talk to management, teachers and students about how they are doing. What innovation is chosen and why, what are the results? Are targets getting reached? What questions are left?
This monitor and audit has different purposes: we need to know how they are doing, to make decisions on money and program development. But the second and even more important purpose is to make them do better, to let MST become part of the schools policy.
Furthermore we do a lot of research on the matter.
Once or twice a year, experts monitor and audit them
-> Aim: make (innovation of) MST part of the schools policy

7. Participation Programs
Sector
participation
additional
results
Primary education
2530 out of 7500 in 2008
Training of:10000 (future) teachers
85% on track
Attitude test
General secondary education
120 schools (will be 150 out of 400) + extra: 150 “following schools
Jet-Net
Phd tracks for teachers
+ 18% at havo and +15% at vwo between 2000 and 2007, large increase girls
(pre) vocational education
120 pre-vocationalschools
Vocational: 27 (out of 60)
vocational training colleges
proportional growth
+ 9%
Higher education
All universities (10) and all “university colleges” (18)
Exchange of 800 professors with 400 secondary school teachers
enrolment
hbo +9% and university: +26,7%
Labour market
6 cooperation's of industries with a couple of hundred companies
6 Regional contracts
Technet network
HRM road mapping
1000 companies
To connect the ‘proven concepts’, to create a substantial group of participants and to enable schools to identify with the approach, different programs were developed.
The slide shows how many schools or institutions participate in these comprehensive programs, a different one for every part of the educational chain. Also it shows what results there are up till now.
Again:
Schools participate because they want to, with their own ambition and innovation strategy
We sign innovation-performance-contracts as governance instrument
An independent monitor and audit induces reflection and enhancement
Knowledge is developed and shared within and between the programs

8. Additional programs
Teacher mobility: SprintUP
Teacher Upgrading: DUDOC
Mentoring: MST1on1
Jet-Net: Shell, Philips, Akzo Nobel, Unilever, DSM
And a new communication paradigm: MST-or Beta Mentality Model

9. Remaining challenges Many schools participate, but…..
With good effort and results
But how do we make it sustainable?
Working on Agenda
After four years we have achieved a lot.
Science and Technology has reached many agendas. More and more organizations embedded it in their policies. Teachers are more enthusiastic about their subject and profession.
The percentages in all sectors are rising.
But our biggest challenge in the next two years is to make all this durable.
After the year 2010 there will be no more Platform.
How do we make sure the schools will keep up the good work, the networks will still develop and the achievements of the programs are not lost?
It’s a discussion we already started within the programs. But we wish to exchange knowledge and experience on this also with you all.
After the lecture of Harrie Eijkelhof there will be an interaction with the audience, where this topic will be discussed.
At three o’clock there will be a closing debate where will talk about how to keep this Science and Technology challenge on the international and political agenda after I am looking forward to hearing your ideas and opinions.

10. Questions?
Of course, it is not possible to give an exhaustive exposition of the programs and activities of the Platform. I have tried to give you an overview which gives you an idea about our strategy and accomplishments to this moment.
If there are questions right now you can ask them. Of course during the day you will have plenty opportunity to talk to me or Beatrice Boots (please stand up for us), the vice-director of the Platform.
Also in the parallel session some of our activities are presented more thoroughly.
Are there any questions?

11. Want to know more? b.boots@deltapunt.nl Feel free to contact me at:
Or look at our website:
(partially in English, including some brochures)
Brochures:
Platform Bèta Techniek, a European good practice ; In search of
exposure and cooperation
Beta Mentality
The Age of Harmonizing Technology
Talent for Innovation and Growth
For more information please don’t hesitate to contact me or Beatrice.
Have a good summit!
Thank you.