The Ministry of Economic Affairs initiated and financially supported the Dutch process industry community in developing technology roadmaps, followed by a 15 year research plan. This subsequently led to the successful funding and founding of DSTI, the Dutch (virtual) Separation Technology Institute. PA was involved in this project by supporting the executive committee with programme management, road mapping methodology and expert input.
The oil and gas, chemical, food, and pharmaceutical industries rely on separation technologies. These industries are of great importance for the Dutch economy, contributing approximately € 40 billion per year to the gross domestic product. Separation processes in oil & gas and bulk chemicals have a major influence on industrial energy consumption, on production costs and on product cost prices. And for the food and pharma industry, separation technology is also key to producing innovative products for gaining competitive advantage.
For all sectors, separation technologies have a major impact on the environmental footprint. Based on an analysis of opportunities for the Dutch economy, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs investigated whether stimulating and supporting innovations in separation technology would benefit the Dutch economy. When this assumption was confirmed, the Ministry decided to 'road map' a project to achieve this.
The objectives of the Ministry of Economic Affairs were to establish and encourage the separation community to investigate the feasibility of a national R&D programme and, after this was confirmed, form a public-private partnership for research and development in separation technology.
PA supported this project by supporting the executive committee and co-ordinating the various parties involved, with programme management, road mapping methodology and expert input.
Innovation roadmaps were developed for separation technology in the following sectors: oil & gas, bulk chemicals, speciality chemicals, food & drink, pharmaceuticals and process water.
Approximately 300 strategists, decision and policy makers (market pull) as well as scientists, researchers, technologists and engineers (technology push) from 150 organisations have participated in the project. They represented:
- End users: industries from multinationals to small/medium enterprises (SMEs)
- Knowledge institutes
- Universities
- Technology and equipment suppliers.
PA supported this project by supporting the executive committee and co-ordinating the various parties involved, with programme management, road mapping methodology and expert input.
Benefits
Using PA´s technology road mapping approach has enabled the separation community in The Netherlands to successfully define long term research activities that can have a very beneficial effect on the Dutch economy.
As a result of this project DSTI, the Dutch (virtual) Separation Technology Institute, has been founded to enable large multinationals as well as SMEs to participate and co-operate in the programme together with universities and research institutes.
The successful set up of DSTI forms a solid basis for furthering the Netherlands' competitive edge in separation technology, one of the core technologies in the process industries.
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