Highlights of the Members' Council meeting of 23 April 2025
New (vice) chairman member council
Both the chairman and vice-chairman of the Members' Council have accepted new positions in their daily work. Therefore, the process has been started to appoint a new chairman and vice-chairman. These will be elected by the membership council from among its own members. Candidates can apply to the nomination advisory committee or the secretary until 16 May. In the case of WO, hbo, mbo institutions and umc's, this is preferably done through a supported nomination from the industry associations. At the next meeting on 18 June, the appointment is scheduled. As there are no chairman and vice-chairman at that time, a temporary chairman has been appointed for this meeting: Rens Buchwaldt.
Member satisfaction survey results
The results of the member satisfaction survey were discussed. Broadly speaking, it appears that many members are very satisfied with SURF, both with its services and its strategic direction. At the same time, two areas for improvement were identified:
- The provision of information within the cooperative could be improved.
- There is a need for more insight into the innovation work, so that members can join this more easily.
In addition, the frequency with which members and other stakeholders are asked for their opinions was discussed.
Geopolitical developments
The member council was briefed on the cooperative's commitment to reduce dependence on a small number of technology companies. Specific attention was paid to the availability and accessibility of (public) research data.
When these data are in danger - for example, due to destruction or no longer being public - SURF is committed to securing the data so that their availability to science is guaranteed. After a test of the vulnerability of the data, SURF can, if necessary, take over storage for one year. This provides time to arrive at a long-term structural solution.
Large-scale AI facility
Work is in progress to realise a large-scale AI facility in the Netherlands. SURF, together with other knowledge partners and financiers, is at an advanced stage of submitting an application to EuroHPC for this.
The Members' Council was informed about the plans and about the added value of this facility for SURF members and for the Netherlands as a whole. The Members' Council agreed to finalise the plans and submit the application. This application will be submitted by a yet to be established legal entity of the consortium, consisting of SURF, TNO, AIC4NL and Samenwerking Noord.