Game for Development

Indo-Dutch Connect 26 August 2009

Gaming is not just fun and games, tells us Margot Weijnen, Scientific Director, Next Generation Infrastructures (NGInfra) Foundation and Chair, Dept. of Infrastructure Systems, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, TU Delft. She tells us how serious gaming can be used for infrastructure and development projects and how she is collaborating with CSTEP in India to spread the use of serious gaming in India.

Let us begin with trying to understand the Dutch gaming and simulation industry. Could you give us an idea of the size and nature of the industry in the Netherlands?

Gaming and simulation is a fast growing sub-sector, with strong clusters of activity in the regions of Amsterdam, Utrecht and Rotterdam. Job growth in the creative sector is typically far above the national average. In Utrecht, gaming is an explicit part of the economic development plans of both the city and the province; there, the creative industry has grown from 6 percent in 1990 to 13 percent in 2005.

The Netherlands harbours excellent conditions for further growth: the infrastructure is in place—the Amsterdam Internet Xchange (AMS-IX) is a world-class hub in the global broadband infrastructure, and we rank top in the world for Internet usage and bandwidth penetration. The cultural conditions are excellent—Dutch arts and design have a great reputation in the world; in the working environment the culture is rather informal, with respect for individual autonomy and creativity, and a mindset of internationalisation and business. The Internet hub in Amsterdam not only boosted the development of an entertainment gaming industry, it also gave rise to the Dutch ambition to become a content hub and the media gateway to Europe.

Read the complete interview on Indo-Dutch Connect.