My name is Rami Ismail, and I am the Government Relations board member of the Dutch Games Association. I’d like to give you occasional updates on the work we’re doing, behind the scenes, to ensure the government and the industry work together to ensure we all have the best opportunities to make games in the Netherlands.
I’d like to give a quick update on some of the points I discussed in our last communication in early June, since a lot has happened in the past few weeks. The most notable was the INDIGO Showcase event in Utrecht at which a first-ever roundtable brought together representatives from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, and developers and organizations from both the Netherlands and Flanders.
- We are continuing to develop our government talking points and media training resources. Consistently, the fragmented way the industry communicates with the government is identified as a source of confusion and delays in bureaucratic processes. My aim is to ensure that we, as an industry, provide a coherent and strongly supported case to the ministries at all levels.
- We’ve taken steps towards an “SBI code” for Dutch game developers. If you’ve registered with the Chamber of Commerce, you might’ve noticed that there is no category for game developers with the Statistics Netherlands (CBS) – which complicates data gathering and requires a lot of additional work in the Dutch Games Monitor that the Dutch Game Garden creates in partnership with the Dutch Games Association. I’ll report back as this process continues – and hopefully, game developers can all officially become game developers in the nearby future.
- We’ve established the Nationale Technologiestrategie as a potential opportunity for the Dutch games industry. While this is not a short-term goal, the Nationale Technologiestrategie focuses strongly on innovation and technology in Dutch policy, and including games into the strategy could create a clear incentive for supporting games.
Finally, at the INDIGO Showcase, the industry had a rare opportunity to present itself to government representatives, showcasing what we have to offer. The insightful conversations marked a forward step in our mutual collaboration. However, it is clear that our industry still has a long way to go in properly communicating our value proposition and needs to the Dutch government.
This situation is both exciting and humbling: the government recognizes the potential of the games industry in the Netherlands but doesn’t fully understand our needs or the benefits of meeting those needs. We have strong supporters within the government, and our job as the Dutch Games Association is to make their lives easier by consistently and coherently explaining our strengths and context through all available resources and outlets.
Once we finalize our communication strategy, I will appeal to all members of the Dutch Games Association to internalize these talking points for use in any media or government context. Across all levels of the games industry— from entertainment to applied, artistic to economic, individual to multinational corporation— we benefit from projecting a unified and well-supported strategy. This approach will compel the government to meet our needs, allowing us to remain a leading and competitive force in Europe and the world.
Until next time,
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Rami