Connekt - The innovation network of traffic and transport

The social need for Reliable Accessibility
The quality of the traffic and transport system is of crucial importance to the prosperity and welfare of the Netherlands. This quality is being threatened because the system is becoming increasingly unreliable. With its motto Reliable Accessibility, Connekt wants to make a substantial contribution to the development of reliable, comfortable, accessible and safe services in the area of traffic and transport in the Netherlands. There is a great need in the Netherlands for the development of knowledge in order to make significant advances. Moreover, there is also a great need for integral solutions, in terms of which the government, trade and industry and the scientific world should develop a common vision and find solutions for the growing congestion problems facing the Dutch traffic system.

Connekt, the innovation network for traffic and transport, was set up in 1999 by a number of ministries, large companies and trade organisations not only to give a powerful boost to the development of knowledge in this area, but also to combine knowledge spread over a wide range of sectors. Connekt’s most important aim is ‘to contribute to knowledge’ which should lead to the implementation of innovative solutions for traffic and transport problems and thereby strengthen the position of the Netherlands in this field.

Connekt acts as an intermediary between public, private and scientific parties. It initiates, stimulates and facilitates the development and application of knowledge. Because of this role, Connekt has become an important platform for finding the necessary solutions for the growing problems in the area of traffic and transport. Connekt combines its expertise with that of its network in order to pinpoint the demand for the desired knowledge and to develop, test, disseminate and secure such knowledge. Connekt also brings the right parties together. Timing and social relevance are the main criteria in this regard. In this way, the processes are moved to a higher level than had the parties looked for solutions individually.

Joining forces is the only way to achieve reliable accessibility. Social visions must be developed and solutions sought by means of the integration of processes. It is therefore Connekt’s task to create an environment in which all parties can work together to achieve this common goal.

Bsik (previously ICES/KIS)
The implementation of the research programme is connected to a financing system that uses government funds, in particular the so-called ICES fund. This was set up to strengthen the economic structure of the Netherlands with profits from natural gas. Part of the ICES programme is the strengthening of the knowledge infrastructure (KIS) in the Netherlands. Within this framework, Connekt has become a force to be reckoned with when it comes to traffic and transport.
As part of the knowledge consortium Transumo, Connekt has, together with various other organisations, submitted an innovative programme for sustainable mobility for the next four years. Transumo has set itself up as the advocate, initiator and stimulator of this innovation and supports the development of relevant knowledge and the dissemination and application thereof. Transumo has submitted a proposal for the subsidy scheme for investment in the knowledge infrastructure (Bsik).