High Tech Campus Eindhoven
The High Tech Campus Eindhoven is a high tech center and R&D ecosystem in the Dutch city of Eindhoven. The High Tech Campus houses more than 90 different companies and institutions, comprising over 8.000 R&D-staff and entrepreneurs, and over 50 different nationalities. One of the main goals of the Campus is to foster cooperation between companies and the (relatively) free exchange of ideas in order to enhance technological and product development (which is why the Campus claims to be an "ecosystem").
Origins and focus
The High Tech Campus was built on the terrain of the former NatLab, Philips primary R&D facility in Eindhoven. During its history Philips found that the most innovative projects were developed in those places (physical locations) where teams from different projects and different scientific disciplines interacted as a result of having been housed next to each other. When the decision was made to open the grounds and facilities to other companies, this insight led to the adoption of the Open Innovation principle, in which campus tenants share knowledge, expertise and R&D-facilities in order to improve their levels of innovation, development speed and quality and customer service.
The Campus is open in principle to all companies with a high tech signature, but the principle focus of the Campus is in the technology areas of High Tech Systems, Microsystems, Embedded Systems, Life Sciences and Infotainment. From those areas, Campus tenants develop products in the broadest possible spectrum (including high-end electronics, home environment innovations, but also ultra-fine filtration systems using filters made with chip etching technology). In order to ensure a dynamic ecosystem, the Campus directorate strives for companies from a mix of different fields, as well as for a mix of different company sizes.
As of 2010, Philips retains ownership of the grounds but is looking to divest itself of this ownership so that companies won't worry about their intellectual property when "moving in with Philips".
Environment
The High Tech Campus is an R&D ecosystem in every sense of the word. The Campus is intended to stimulate innovative work through the presence of the Campus tenants, the surrounding companies, the region, the Campus facilities and its architecture.
The High Tech Campus is located on the grounds of the old Philips NatLab. From there, it has inherited state of the art facilities such as laboratories, cleanrooms, testing facilities and so on. These facilities are shared by the different tenants, which stimulates interaction between them. This is enhanced by the fact that a lot of knoweldge is concentrated on the Campus grounds (including Philips Research, Philips Applied Technologies, Atos Origin, FluXXion, Cytocentrics, NXP and Dalsa). The current Campus is 1 km2 in size and includes 45.000 m2 of R&D facilities, 185.000 m2 office space, 6.000 m2 reserved for technology start-ups and 150.000 m2 of area open for (re)development. In inhabitants, the International Association of Science Parks rank the High Tech Campus in tohe top-17% of science parks. The Campus also generates half of the Netherlands' patent applications.
In addition to on-site knowledge, the Campus is surrounded by the Eindhoven high tech industry. Companies very near the Campus include ASML, FEI Company and TNO Industrial Technology. Also, the Eindhoven University of Technology is only a few kilometers away. Beyond the immediate area, the Campus is also located in one of the most innovative R&D- regions in the European Union, the Eindhoven-Leuven-Aachen Triangle.
Finally, the Campus is built up around a new "social hub" known as The Strip. The Strip houses the Campus conference center, restaurants and shops and is designed to force people from different companies and fields to bump into one another. This is reinforced by the seminars and conferences that are held in the conference center and by the joint sports facilities.