Medical Technology

Medical technology (MedTech) is indispensable in the healthcare sector and one of the key growth markets for the Dutch high-tech industry. This sector accounts for over €13 billion in production turnover, around 32,700 direct jobs and a top-five position in MedTech patents, and could generate a further €5 billion or more in annual export value and around 11,000 new jobs by 2035. At the same time, earning capacity and the healthcare sector in the Netherlands are under pressure due to labour shortages and growing demand for care as a result of an ageing population. MedTech helps to improve healthcare, increase job satisfaction and reduce the workload.

The Government shares the ambition set out in the MedTech Growth Plan presented in 2026 to strengthen the Dutch MedTech sector and wishes to capitalise on the momentum within the sector. This commitment extends beyond the Growth Plan: a single MedTech ecosystem, supported by start-ups, SMEs, knowledge institutions, technical universities, healthcare institutions and large enterprises.

Contact

Gerard van der Zon

Operational director

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MedTech in 2035

By 2035, the Netherlands will have the strongest MedTech ecosystem in Europe, in which research, healthcare and industry work together seamlessly to create a future-proof and appropriate healthcare system, as well as to generate economic impact. To this end, the Ministries of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK) and Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) are working with the ecosystem to develop a shared ambition for MedTech in 2035, in response to the MedTech Growth Plan. This plan focuses on increasing revenue potential and creating a future-proof healthcare system, with €102.5 million in public investment and at least the same amount from private sector partners.

The government is focusing primarily on the enabling conditions that strengthen the entire ecosystem, such as appropriate legislation and regulations, healthcare implementation, (data) infrastructure and AI. Favourable framework conditions enable initiatives such as the R&D flagship projects set out in the Growth Plan. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK) and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) are taking the lead to ensure that ongoing initiatives are better aligned and to set joint priorities.

This ambition is in line with current policy priorities: the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy’s focused industrial policy (in which MedTech forms part of the targeted mechanical engineering programme), the National Technology Strategy (NTS), the 3 per cent action plan and the ministerial task force on Future Prosperity and Earning Capacity; from the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS): the Integrated Care Agreement (IZA), the Supplementary Care and Welfare Agreement (AZWA) and the Framework Agreement on Care for the Elderly.

Two flagship initiatives and six priority challenges

The MedTech 2035 ambition currently comprises two flagship initiatives that will deliver tangible results in the short term: public-private projects that address challenges in the healthcare sector, offer added value to patients and strengthen revenue-generating capacity. Public funding is matched by private contributions, with a target of 70 per cent private matching. In addition, the Government is taking the lead at national level on six priority challenges: the enabling conditions for innovation, production, implementation and upscaling in the Netherlands.

A new generation of image-guided therapies using AI and robotics. The Netherlands occupies a unique position in this field, spanning science, the high-tech manufacturing sector and healthcare. From 2027, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK) will fund three two-year projects in the fields of cardiovascular disease, oncology and stroke, with broad involvement from companies, research institutions and hospitals. The aim: to make the Netherlands a global leader, with opportunities for start-ups, scale-ups and related industries.

Technology for tomorrow’s healthcare. A two-year initial investment in the regional ‘Hospital of the Future’ initiative in Twente. This is creating an integrated value chain in which proven innovations are implemented and scaled up at an accelerated pace, so that they spread like wildfire to other regions. The ambition: a 4% improvement in healthcare productivity by 2035, equivalent to 56,000 FTE of healthcare capacity.

National collaboration between ecosystems
Data and AI infrastructure
Implementation in healthcare
Market authorisation
Funding
Talent and entrepreneurship

Specific actions include mapping the Dutch MedTech innovation ecosystem, establishing a single national healthcare data infrastructure by 2029, exploring regulatory sandboxes for market authorisation, setting up a venture capital roundtable organised by Invest-NL, and implementing a targeted talent strategy. Internationalisation, economic security and resilience, and sustainability run as cross-cutting themes through all activities.

(Key) technologies and applications for MedTech

The Netherlands excels in complex, high-tech and R&D-intensive technology. Four technological trends – digitalisation, artificial intelligence, miniaturisation and robotisation – are making remote healthcare, home diagnostics and less invasive procedures possible, thereby easing the pressure on the healthcare system. Promising areas of focus for the Netherlands include AI-supported diagnostics and clinical decision-making, diagnostics using biological samples, remote healthcare, and robotic and minimally invasive interventions.

Holland High Tech brings together the high-tech industry, SMEs and knowledge institutions around a shared ambition for MedTech in 2035. In doing so, we are building on our Strategic Programme for Medical Technology and on the innovation domains in which the key technologies for MedTech are being developed:

Imaging Technologies
The complete imaging chain, from sensors to AI-driven image analysis; the foundation for diagnostics, image-guided surgery and remote healthcare

Optical Systems & Integrated Photonics
Advanced optical systems that improve imaging techniques for medical applications
Mechatronics & Optomechatronics
Precision systems and (cognitive) robotics in which imaging is integrated, such as in the operating theatre of the future
Semiconductor Technologies
Semiconductor chips that enable advanced sensors and image processing.

In this way, we are positioning the high-tech sector to contribute to both the flagship initiatives and the priority challenges.

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