Kick-off #CES2021NL!
By Calvin van Steensel Curry
Hi there!
Today we kicked off #CES with a live stream broadcast from Amsterdam but extending its reach across the globe. In the spirit of co-creating to innovate, this very international lineup included:
Techleap.nl Special Envoy, Prince Constantijn van Oranje
State Secretary of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, Mona Keijzer
President and CEO of the CTA, Gary Shapiro
Executive Vice President of CES, Karen Chupka
Founder of Tover, Hester le Riche
Co-founder and CEO of Qblox, Niels Bultink
Professor at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen and Director of the
Copenhagen Microsoft Quantum Lab, Charles Marcus
NL Consul General in San Francisco, Dirk Janssen
This year the divide across the Atlantic is smaller than ever as the full conference takes place online for the very first time. The representation of companies representing the Netherlands has anything but been affected. Almost 100 companies are attending CES2021, which is almost double in comparison to last year! As a hub for innovation, it is no surprise that the Netherlands has been represented well over the last few years, but especially this year.
Gary Shapiro when speaking of the Netherlands at CES said:
“In fact, The Netherlands was named an Innovation Champion, our highest honor in the latest edition of CTA’s International Scorecard. It earned top marks by nearly every metric, from healthy broadband access to pro-tech positions on next-generation technologies like self-driving cars and drones”
After the pavilion had been officially opened, State Secretary Mona Keijzer added that:
“As the State Secretary for Economic Affairs of the Netherlands, I am very proud and grateful that I can support all the entrepreneurs that have made a positive impact with their tech innovations. Let’s all help them grow and solve our world’s issues.”
She was joined by Techleap.nl Special Envoy Prince Constantijn van Oranje and he agreed that the Netherlands has introduced groundbreaking tech solutions for global challenges.
The event had great insights on the startup ecosystem of the Netherlands, and highlighted opportunities to be found in a digital world, and more specifically at a digital conference.
One of the speakers at the event was Niels Bultink, co-founder and CEO of Qblox.
Qblox is one of 6 quantum startups in the Netherlands and, most notably, one of the CES2021 Innovation Award Honorees.
Qblox is a company working to push ‘quantum technology to support scientists and institutions worldwide with our scalable and low-latency qubit control equipment.’
Qblox is a partner to Quantum Delft, as part of the Quantum Delta NL ecosystem for innovation. Quantum Delta NL is aiming to nourish an ecosystem in which many more quantum related startups can thrive and all relevant ecosystem partners work together to achieve this goal. Quantum Delta NL has an ambitious startup program that aims to ‘incubate and accelerate 100 startups, including facilities for (pre)seed capital that allows scale-up in Europe.’
This technology is leading the way into a future wherein the Netherlands can play an international pioneering role to address aspects in quantum at an early stage. There is an opportunity to engage society and create ground rules for safe and sustainable use of quantum technology.
So, in this manner whilst there are limitations to a digital event, there are also opportunities to be found.
The entrepreneurial spirit is one which seeks solutions wherever they can be found. This Kick-off event, and the coming together of the largest delegation the Netherlands has ever had at CES is testament to this. The days ahead are sure to be filled with exciting news from #CES2021NL. So be sure to stay tuned, and we will keep bringing you the latest.
Watch the live stream recording right here:
