Open innovation Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus

By project Medtech4 Europe

Published on 16 January 2020

Netherlands

Limburg (NL)

About this good practice

Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus was founded as a triple-helix initiative by the province of Limburg, the Maastricht University Hospital (MUMC+) and Maastricht University to create an environment of Research and Business co-operation to face the challenges in the medtech industry in the (eu)region.
Brightlands is a community made up of nearly 20,000 ambitious researchers, entrepreneurs and students. Together, they work on open innovation: i.e. sharing their knowledge and inventions with one another. They focus on global challenges in health, sustainability, nutrition and digitization. It is an open innovation ecosystem with rapidly growing campuses as a home to state-of-the-art facilities, fundamental and applied research offered to scientist, entrepreneurs, students and investors. Together they create new chances and solutions in sustainability and health that are environmentally sound, business wise, socially positive and that make this great region proud
Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus has a broad mix of tenants, consisting of world leading multinationals, innovative SMEs, high-potential start-ups, public-private knowledge institutes and educational institutions at academic, undergraduate and further education levels, plus a group of specialist service providers.
Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus is a company and has three shareholders: the Province of Limburg, Maastricht University, and Maastricht University Medical Center+.

Expert opinion

Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus is an open platform ecosystem that emerged from a triple-helix stakeholder leadership to promote innovation in regenerative medicine, precision medicine and innovative diagnostics. Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus, which co-locate a diverse range of tenants, provides research and innovation infrastructures such as laboratories and R&D facilities and shared services. The good practice highlights the importance of public-private leadership, economic and political supports over a long period of time to transform such an ambitious initiative into a thriving innovation ecosystem. The good practice offers an example of university-industry collaboration using research and innovation infrastructures and state-of-the-art R&D facilities.

Arnault Morisson

Works at Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform

Resources needed

The three founding fathers provide funds as shareholders for exploitation costs based on a 10-years agreement (2012-2023), that mount up to € 1.795.168,- per year. After 2023 the Maastricht Health Campus B.V. should be self-reliant (financially).

Evidence of success

Targets are set for the 10-year funding period, which are monitored continuously. Main targets are number of knowledge workers (target in 2023 1.100 new knowledge workers (target already reached) and 40 new companies (spin offs), target also already reached.

Potential for learning or transfer

Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus has been visited by other medtech regions within the MedTech4europe project. The project partners were impressed by the dynamic development and were discussing cooperation potential between companies and research institutes in the partner regions.
One actual co-operation with respect to MedTech Infrastructures is under development between Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus and CEA (FR) and is called MedTechNetHub.