4-minute read - By Peter Wennink, September 8, 2023
ASML's CEO Peter Wennink, European Commission’s head of cabinet Diederik Samson and ING's chief economist Marieke Blom discussed boosting Europe and the Netherlands' future earning power through innovation and collaboration at the opening of the academic year at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). This is Peter Wennink’s speech.
Our world is at a tipping point for change
When I was invited to give this keynote speech, I was asked to talk about the earning power of the Netherlands and Europe. We’ve already discussed the energy transition and climate change, but there are other pressing issues and societal shifts that have a profound impact on our daily lives. Consider digitalization, for example, as well as an aging population. In other words, there are more major, systemic changes happening around us than ever before, and this concerns me. In terms of earning power, I worry that Europe and the Netherlands are falling behind.
We must change. We must collectively identify a new way to address the issues at hand. This is not business as usual. What I fail to see when exploring solutions to these issues is a clear vision – a vision on society and people. We need to approach these issues systemically rather than through point solutions. Many point solutions already exist, but they are disconnected from one another – this needs to change.
We must also take more risks than we’re used to. We have a fairly comfortable welfare state, but if we wish to drive change, we must be willing to take a leap of faith. To achieve our goals, we must work together and be creative.
