Strategische Agenda 2022-2025

Strategic Agenda - Focus on the Future, Fast Forward Now 35 own house in order. That is why leading by example is an important pillar of our corporate social responsibility policy. We want to minimise the impact that our work has on the climate. For example by making our campus in Delft climate-neutral. And we compensate for our carbon emissions from air travel. We do this by executing projects at our own expense that contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Our Deltares Code of Conduct complies with the basic corporate principles outlined by the UN Global Compact. We have included these principles in our corporate values, and in how we work and do business. This means working in a way that at least complies with the fundamental responsibilities in the areas of the environment, corruption, labour and human rights. Compliance with this Code of Conduct is essential to the success of Deltares and we therefore pay a great deal of attention to this area. 4.3 | Science Council Deltares has a good scientific position and we must maintain it. The new Science Council plays an important role here. Its main task is to supervise the scientific implementation of mission-driven work at Deltares. And to advise on the deployment of strategic research resources to develop the knowledge base required for that purpose. The Science Council will have a diverse membership and it will consist of a mix of Deltares professors and a number of inspiring, iconic, employees who have a high profile in both society as a whole and the scientific world, nationally and internationally. As Deltares figureheads, they can convey the messages of scientific quality and social relevance, and strengthen our international relationships. In the coming strategy period, we will also be working with a Young Science Council. We see this as an important source for encouraging and using innovation and creativity. The Young Science Council will consist of employees who can play a pioneering role in the transition to the new technology that leads to new knowledge, and who challenge the organisation to take leaps into the unknown . 4.4 | Healthy financial management Deltares is a non-profit organisation. Turnover and profit are not goals in themselves. Our objective, in addition to safeguarding continuity, is primarily to improve quality and impact. Our turnover is currently €120 million a year. We do not foresee any significant changes in the coming years. An estimated 60% of the total turnover can be classified as ‘non-economic activities’. Deltares has a sound financial basis at present. To maintain this financial position, we aim to generate a return of 2% on turnover. This puts us in a position to invest in our knowledge resources, such as software and research facilities, in order to keep them up-to-date. In this way, we increase the impact of our research institute for our clients, partners and society. Over the past ten years we have invested in the innovation of the physical facilities and the campus in Delft. In addition to the necessary investments in replacements, no major new investments are expected in the coming period.Investments are expected to approximately match the level of depreciation in the coming period. The national government funding for maintaining and strengthening our knowledge base currently accounts for 16% of turnover. We use this contribution to expand the long-term knowledge base and to maintain the knowledge facilities. The acceleration of the digital transformation (see section 3.2) will require a development budget of €20-40 million in the years to come. We have to conduct maintenance on our existing assets at the same time as we develop new systems. The consequence is that we need more funding. We will meet some of the costs by reviewing the priorities in Strategic Research and by drawing on our own resources. However, additional resources will be needed. Deltares will be talking to the government and other stakeholders about how to address this. Deltares is fundamentally a Dutch institute. In order to further strengthen our leading position internationally, we need to be internationally active. Given the role that Deltares plays in the Dutch knowledge and innovation ecosystem, the focal point of our activities will continue to be in the Netherlands. As stated above, we are targeting international turnover of between 35 and 40%. Spending on R&D in the Netherlands has been low from an international perspective for years, and particularly given the ambition to play a leading role in innovation. The same applies to the financial resources for applied research. In the case of Deltares, the national government funding compared with turnover is on the low side relative to other research institutes. We are therefore advocates, with our partners in the knowledge coalition, of more investment to strengthen innovation in the Netherlands further. The evaluation committee of the TO2 institutes also asked for a Matching Fund to be considered. The limited amount of available matching resources for participation in European programmes sometimes puts too much pressure on participation in European framework programmes. The partial compensation of the matching resources through a matching fund is therefore recommended.