Platform aims to give Leuven a Silicon Valley glow
A new economic development platform aims to spotlight the pioneering advances Leuven’s health-care, creative and tech companies have made in recent years
A Swedish visit
The platform brings together a host of companies and knowledge centres in the city. Partners include the University of Leuven, University Hospital Leuven and nanotechnology research centre imec, with the latter two investing a combined €2 billion in the project.
Other partners include Flemish life sciences research institute VIB, Flanders’ digital research centre iMinds and local companies like ThromboGenics, Materialise and LayerWise. The City of Leuven, the driving force behind the project, invested €500,000 in the platform’s launch.
Economy alderman Mohamed Ridouani was the brains behind the initiative. The idea came to him, he explains, during a visit to the Swedish city of Malmö.
“The City of Malmö overwhelmed us with a spectacular presentation of their progress in different domains,” says Ridouani (pictured). “When it was our turn to present the state of affairs in Leuven, we only had a few PowerPoint slides. Our progress is absolutely not inferior to that of cities like Malmö, but we don’t promote it enough.”
Ridouani became convinced that something needed to change if Leuven wanted a fighting chance in the fierce international competition for funding, top scientists and investors. Enter Leuven Mindgate.
From Oxford to San Francisco
In addition to promoting local innovative companies, Leuven Mindgate also aims to increase co-operation between the three sectors it focuses on. Researchers might help tech companies fine-tune their products, while creatives might help companies brand their products.
Leuven already has an international dimension, but we have to cherish this more
“Materialise’s 3D printing technology can be very useful for artists, for example” says Ridouani. “With a collaborative approach, Leuven can truly become a world-class player.”
The partners also aim to help start-up companies spread their wings. To that end, the incubators at Leuven’s science parks will be expanded, while a new incubator will be built to help architects, designers and communication specialists, among others, with the first steps toward starting their own businesses.
This new incubator for creative businesses will set up shop at the Vaartkom, the city’s creative heart. This is where former Stella Artois brewery De Hoorn now houses communication company Boondoggle as well as an incubator for gaming and digital entertainment initiatives.
“It has to be known that Leuven is not just a knowledge hub but also a place where that knowledge is applied by entrepreneurs,” Ridouani explains. “We have to change the reputation of Leuven from the stiff Oxford of Flanders to that of the region’s sparkling San Francisco.”
One-stop shop
In two years, Leuven Mindgate will get its own building, in the heart of the city, which will organise and host congresses as well as receiving potential investors and international visitors. It will also house the International Centre, which will be the main contact point for local expats, offering them the information they need to integrate in Leuven and Flanders. The International School of Leuven, in the neighbouring municipality of Heverlee, will also move in.
“Leuven already has an international dimension, but we have to cherish it more,” Ridouani says.
Meanwhile, the city is also gearing up for the opening of the Health House at Arenberg science park at the end of the year. This will be an interactive, hands-on science and technology centre like Technopolis in Mechelen, but mainly targeted at an older audience.
At just 700 square metres, the new centre may be small, but the founders have big ambitions. They aim to give national and international researchers, students, investors and tourists a taste of the newest technological breakthroughs in different health-care fields. Its star attraction will be an interactive 3D simulation of conditions in a hospital operating theatre.
“There will be a permanent exhibition in the Health House but it will also offer personalised group visits,” says Ridouani. “A tour might demonstrate the latest progress of Leuven’s researchers on the topic of diabetes, for example, if that’s what visitors are interested in.”
Photo: Leuven alderman Mohamed Ridouani speaking at the Leuven Mindgate press launch
© Carolien Coenen
