The Dutch government is innovating less than a few years ago. The Government Innovation Barometer 2025 shows that three-quarters (76%) of government organizations still implemented an innovation in 2023 and 2024, but this is a drop of ten percentage points from 2021.
Especially innovations that improve interaction with citizens and businesses have declined: from 62 percent in 2021 to 37 percent today. Digitization of work processes, on the other hand, is more important than ever. Organizations are focusing on working more efficiently and improving quality, often with the help of IT and artificial intelligence (AI).
The majority of innovations consist of process innovation: organizing work processes more efficiently and better. With this, process innovation (78%) remains the main focus, while product and service innovations are losing ground. Many applications revolve around digitalization, such as AI-driven analyses, digital application procedures and robotization of administrative processes.
It is notable that government executive agencies and independent administrative bodies are much more likely to innovate (92%) than core departments (56%). Moreover, their innovations are often technological in nature, ranging from drones for inspections to smart data tools for risk assessment.
Although increasing efficiency is the most frequently mentioned goal (56%), the greatest effects are made on service quality (75%) and user experience (70%). Citizens notice this in the form of simpler procedures and faster service delivery. In practice, however, it is mostly about optimizing existing processes. In 83 percent of cases, the way of working changed only slightly.
The success of innovations hinges on human capital and a stimulating innovation climate. On average, government organizations give themselves a high enough rating (3.63 on a scale of 1-5), with central government leading the way (3.79). A climate in which mistakes are seen as learning experiences and new ideas are valued appears to be essential.
When innovations fail, it is rarely because of bad ideas. Main stumbling blocks are lack of support (35%), an insufficiently developed innovation process (32%), and limited resources such as time and money.
Especially large organizations and those with a separate innovation officer or unit appear to be more successful in innovation. Smaller organizations run into limits more often and do well to act jointly, such as by sharing innovation officers.
In addition, 60 percent of innovations are found to be partially or entirely based on existing solutions from other organizations. This underscores the importance of knowledge sharing and scaling up.
The report shows that innovations are often concrete and practical. Examples include AI chatbots in service delivery, drones for supervision, and apps or data models that improve the quality of supervision and service delivery. For example, the municipality of Rotterdam developed a model to analyze customer signals, the NVWA an inspection app and the Kadaster tactile maps and AI image recognition.
Internationally, the Netherlands is doing well, with Denmark as a model country. Yet collaborative, citizen-centered innovation lags behind here. The report therefore calls for more cross-organizational cooperation and planned upscaling, so that innovation does not remain fragmented but has a truly broad impact.
The Dutch government is not innovating as widely as a few years ago, but digitization is keeping the engine running. The biggest gains are being made in the quality of services, while process innovation is dominating. To strengthen innovative power, collaboration, scaling up and attention to human capital are indispensable. Only then can the government continue to respond to social and technological changes.
Read here the Government Innovation Barometer 2025
