Highlights of the SURF Members’ Council meeting on 7 October 2026

In early October, the SURF Members’ Council met again. During this meeting, the discussion focused on SURF AI, the new appointments to the Scientific and Technical Council, and our participation in grant-funded projects. Time was also set aside for a strategic discussion about the multi-year strategy.

20 October 2026

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SURF AI

The meeting began with a number of updates, including those regarding Hans Louwhoff’s absence from the Members’ Council and SURF AI. A news article on SURF AI was published recently. SURF AI will consist of two components: AI-hub and eduGenAI. Both are on track to be launched on 1 January 2027, but they also raise some questions. Discussions took place regarding the development of eduGenAI and the process surrounding it, with the aim of moving forward together with all members.

Appointments to the WTR

2 members are to be appointed to the Wetenschappelijk Technische Raad (WTR). The Supervisory Board has already approved the appointment of Prof.dr.ir. Geert-Jan Houben and Dr. Richard Zijdeman. The Members’ Council has also approved these appointments for an initial term of 3 years.

Participation in projects

Each year, SURF participates in various grant-funded projects, such as those organised by the European Commission or growth funds. From a financial perspective, participation in these projects often exceeds the Executive Board’s mandate: therefore, the Supervisory Board and the Members’ Council must approve the proposals. 3 projects were approved at this Members’ Council meeting, having already been approved by the Supervisory Board:

Open Science NL: SURF as coordinator.
Treliss project: an operational implementation of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).
Cascade Lab: connecting environmental applications for digital twins.

European semiconductor sector

SURF and other IT-organisations are facing major challenges due to sharply rising prices for hardware components on the global market. As component costs rise and the budget remains fixed, the successors to Snellius and the AI factory may end up being smaller in scale. This is putting pressure on all data centres across Europe. The Netherlands and Europe wish to take action on this.

SURF can join a European consortium and submit a proposal in response to the call for ideas on how to boost the European semiconductor sector. A decision on participation in this project may need to be sought between this and the next Members’ Council meeting. The Members’ Council mandates the Supervisory Board to act should this arise.

Strategic discussion on multi-year strategy

The new multi-year strategy, which is currently being drafted within the cooperative, is due to come into effect on 1 January 2028. The Members’ Council plays a key role in providing input and setting the framework for this strategy.

During this meeting, time has been set aside to reflect together and discuss the future of SURF. Key points include the level of ambition and the focus for the coming years, as well as how we can ensure that leading-edge innovation goes hand in hand with a service that is always reliable. The multi-year strategy will feature on the Members’ Council agenda at every meeting in the coming period. The plan is to take decisions on the new multi-year strategy in October 2027.