Do you know why Amsterdam has become the center of the EU’s digital economy?
As one of the oldest cities in the industrialized world, Amsterdam has always been at the forefront of international business and commerce. Amsterdam has a favorable geographical position as it is located just a few hours from many major EU cities. The city also has the oldest stock exchange in the world (AEX, now part of Euronext).
In particular, over the past decade, Amsterdam has grown and become an essential city for US businesses, CTOs and IT professionals.
Foreign Direct Investment.
Amsterdam is rapidly becoming a growing hub for commerce and digital media, attracting international companies such as Facebook, Netflix and Salesforce to set up their European headquarters in the heart of the Netherlands. In fact, more than 170 ICT companies globally have chosen Amsterdam as their European Headquarters.
Superior Internet connection
Amsterdam is one of the most connected cities in the EU, home to the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX), one of the world’s largest Internet exchanges with over 800 members. In November 2016, peak traffic passed 5 Tb/s.
The city is highly connected by fiber optic and underground cable networks connecting to the eastern seaboard of the United States, London, and other major Atlantic cities. The network infrastructure in the city also supports top-of-the-line content delivery (OTT), which has catered to consumers’ digital content eating needs in the Netherlands and surrounding countries. Amsterdam’s Science Park business district, where AMS-IX is located, has more than 150 networks and can reach 80% of European customers within 50 m/s.
Amsterdam has a highly skilled workforce.
The local workforce is highly educated and speaks many languages ​​including Dutch, French, German and of course English. Ranked seventh globally for higher education, the Netherlands has more skilled workers than most comparable cities in the EU, making it easier to do business across borders.
Many Business-friendly policies
Government programs such as the Skilled Immigrant Visa program and the increasing availability of skilled part-time and contract workers have simplified the response process demands demanded by modern global businesses.
With the ability to connect with more than 244 million potential customers across the continent, Amsterdam naturally becomes the center of Europe. It remains an attractive and highly sought-after city for any company looking to enter or expand its presence in the region.
Advanced Digital – Europe’s digital economy
Social media services, online games and streaming media have grown in popularity exponentially as the Netherlands’ growing, multilingual, mobile population has fully embraced the digital lifestyle digital. The Netherlands currently has the most Netflix subscribers in the EU (far ahead of larger neighboring countries like Germany). Also, it boasts one of the largest online gaming communities, accounting for more than 20% of all traffic continent-wide online gaming traffic.
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