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Last 25 September, the Canadian Ambassador, her Excellency Ambassador of Canada to the Netherlands Sabine Nölke and her trade delegation, visited the Co-location Centre of EIT Digital Eindhoven. This visit was initiated by Robyn Devine, Trade Commissioner, Innovation, Embassy of Canada to the Netherlands, to strengthen business relations and to get more knowledge on the High Tech Campus and Brainport Development. The goal was to maximize time by connecting with new possible partners and programmes. Involved was also EIT Digitals’ strategic partner ITEA3 and the Mayor of Eindhoven, Rob van Gijzel, joined this visit as representative of the Dutch local government.

Patrick Essers, Node Director of the Netherlands, welcomed the guests in the Co-location Centre and gave an introduction to the vision, mission and strategy of EIT Digital, next to the open innovation model in the city of Eindhoven. The visit included also a presentation from her Excellency Ambassador of Canada to the Netherlands Sabine Nölke, who stressed the strong Canadian-Dutch relationship. She explained that “most impressively, the Netherlands is Canada’s second largest source of foreign direct investment globally.”  A panel session with experienced ITEA project leaders from the Netherlands gave the Canadian delegation the opportunity to have a broader understanding of how to handle a project in ITEA 3 from a participant’s perspective. 

Furthermore, Mayor of Eindhoven Rob van Gijzel explained the importance of the Brainport region and how they could support the Canadian SMEs. The Mayor also pointed out that the City of Eindhoven has a strong relationship with the City of Waterloo that is located in the heart of Canada’s Technology Triangle.  A handshake sealed a promising start to make the Brainport region visible and attractive for Canadian companies to bring business to Eindhoven.