The Delta Plan was developed after an opinion piece in NRC triggered a request from the Minister of Economic Affairs to outline what the Netherlands needs to remain competitive and autonomous in an AI-driven world. The authors, led by Michiel Bakker and Jelle Prins, collaborated with a broad group of experts from academia, government, industry and civil society. The resulting strategy highlights the urgency of strengthening compute infrastructure, talent pipelines, applied AI adoption and democratic safeguards.

The authors argue that the Netherlands is heavily dependent on American and Chinese AI systems, while other countries invest aggressively in sovereign AI infrastructure and national innovation programmes. According to the report, AI will become a foundational technology that reshapes production, public services, scientific research and decision-making. Without domestic compute power, expertise and institutional capacity, the Netherlands could become economically and technologically dependent on external providers.

The Delta Plan places strong emphasis on compute power and energy infrastructure. Europe controls only a small share of global AI compute capacity, and the Netherlands currently lags behind in high-performance datacenter facilities. The report recommends developing a national AI Compute Strategy, creating dedicated AI compute zones with streamlined permitting, and significantly expanding renewable energy and grid capacity.

The plan also stresses the need to accelerate AI adoption and literacy. The Netherlands trails other innovative economies in the application of AI across businesses, the public sector and education. The authors call for large-scale upskilling of teachers, civil servants and professionals, along with targeted adoption plans for strategic sectors. This connects closely with Amsterdam AI’s focus on responsible AI in public domains.

The Delta Plan highlights the importance of talent and ecosystem development. One key recommendation is to strengthen Amsterdam as a national AI hub, building on the city’s existing concentration of researchers, startups and companies. According to the authors, a cohesive and competitive hub would help attract international talent and improve collaboration across sectors.

Finally, the report emphasises democratic safeguards and societal resilience. It proposes the creation of a National AI Impact Institute to monitor AI’s effects on work, welfare, democracy and information ecosystems. It also recommends establishing a citizen assembly infrastructure to ensure that the public is structurally involved in decisions about AI deployment. These proposals resonate with Amsterdam AI’s mission to support a responsible, value-driven European approach to AI.

The Delta Plan is positioned as the beginning of a broader national dialogue. The authors invite feedback from organisations and citizens to refine and expand the strategy in the coming months.