While the number of female IT entrepreneurs has grown by 1,105 over the past thirteen years, the number of male entrepreneurs is increasing even faster. This continues to demonstrate a widening gender gap among entrepreneurs in the IT sector. This is evident from figures from the Chamber of Commerce (KVK) Trade Register.
Between 2013* and 2026, the number of female entrepreneurs in IT grew from 2,451 to 3,556. This represents a 45% increase. Among men, this same period saw an increase from 22,804 to 33,948, a 48.9% increase.
” It’s essential for the Netherlands’ economic growth and for women’s participation in technology that more women participate in the technological developments that shape our future. Unfortunately, our figures show that their share in IT entrepreneurship is declining rather than increasing. This worries me. That’s why I wholeheartedly encourage women who are hesitant about moving into IT to take that step. The sector desperately needs their talent, and with more female entrepreneurs, we can truly make a difference together ,” says Petra Jansen op de Haar, board member at KVK.
Difference in absolute numbers and percentage
In 2013, the difference between male and female IT entrepreneurs was 20,353, and by 2026, it will be 30,392. This represents an increase in the gender gap of 10,039. In percentage terms, the share of women within the total group of IT entrepreneurs has decreased from 9.68% in 2013 to 9.48% in 2026.
Increasing equal opportunities
The Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KVK) is actively committed to increasing opportunities for female entrepreneurs, not only within IT but across all sectors. That’s why the KVK is affiliated with Code-V, the leading network in the Netherlands dedicated to equal business opportunities for women. Research by the KVK shows that women experience less support, knowledge, and trust in several areas of the financing process. You can read more about this here .
AIS is the winner of the Student DJ Contest 2026. AIS, a 22-year-old rising DJ and producer, takes listeners on a journey through a high-energy mix of hard house and euphoric trance. As a Chemical Engineering student at The Hague University of Applied Sciences, she knows better than anyone how to combine all the elements perfectly for the Liberation Festival.
Bouncy grooves The competition was strong. Six DJs delivered impressive performances and each proved to be a talent in their own right. Yet AIS managed to convince the jury with her super-positive interaction with the audience, sublime mixing style and natural stage presence. The jury believes she has the talent and energy to completely electrify the crowd of 60,000 visitors at the Malieveld. Get ready for a set full of bouncy grooves and an explosion of AIS energy.
See and hear AIS will appear at several festivals in The Hague this year, including the Liberation Festival The Hague at the Malieveld and Clubhopping. The other finalists will perform on 5 May at the HI The Hague Student Experience during the same festival.
Student DJ Contest as a flying start The Student DJ Contest is about more than just winning. It is about celebrating new talent, connecting creative communities and sharing the energy that only music can bring. Every year the professional jury, made up of programmers from leading clubs and festivals, looks forward to discovering and meeting new talent.
Want to take part? The Student DJ Contest has produced sensational new talent for many years. Each year, emerging DJs show what they are capable of. The prize is special: becoming famous in The Hague and surrounding region in one go. See you next year?
The Student DJ Contest is an event organised by HI The Hague
The Hague is an attractive student city with around 50,000 full-time students from the Netherlands and abroad. For the coming years, The Hague will be the place where they continue to develop themselves. To welcome students to the city, HI The Hague organises activities throughout the year to help them meet each other and discover the great places The Hague has to offer.
Festivals, parties, music, art, theatre, film, drinks and shared meals. But also language, sport and health. And this Student DJ Contest. In short: fun and serious.
HI The Hague is an initiative of Platform Student & Stad. This platform is a collaboration between educational institutions, the Municipality of The Hague and student organisations. Its aim is to optimise the student climate and facilities for all students in The Hague.
Thirteen cultural organisations in South Holland will receive more than €9 million this year from the 2025 proceeds of the VriendenLoterij. Rijksmuseum Boerhaave will receive a separate cheque for a specific project. In total, the VriendenLoterij is donating more than €115 million to culture in the Netherlands, funded by its participants.
The organisations in South Holland receiving support are: Het Mauritshuis, Kunsthal Rotterdam, Kunstmuseum Den Haag, Maritiem Museum Rotterdam, Museum Beelden aan Zee, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Nederlands Fotomuseum, Dordrechts Museum, Nieuwe Instituut, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden and Wereldmuseum Leiden.
In addition, Diergaarde Blijdorp will receive €885,816. This amount is allocated through participants who chose to support the zoo when purchasing their lottery tickets.
Contribution for new pavilion and expansion at Rijksmuseum Boerhaave
Rijksmuseum Boerhaave will receive a one-off contribution for the expansion of the museum and the museum design of the new Life Science & Health Pavilion. The pavilion is intended to become a central location in the Netherlands where the public can engage with life sciences and innovative medicine.
Jan-Jaap de Haan stated: “This generous contribution enables us to further strengthen our mission of telling the fascinating story of science and research, and to make our collection and programmes even more accessible and inspiring for visitors of all ages.”
Participants choose which organisation they support
In addition to museums and larger cultural institutions, participants of the VriendenLoterij also support smaller cultural initiatives, including local music and theatre associations. Participants select which organisation they wish to support, with at least 40% of their ticket price going directly to that organisation.
“From music and theatre to museums and heritage, culture is indispensable. As an artist, I know how essential a strong cultural sector is for talent development,” said VriendenLoterij ambassador Jamai Loman. “Thanks to the participants of the VriendenLoterij, organisations are given the space to continue innovating and to share their stories with a wide audience.”
More than €160 million for culture, welfare and sport
The VriendenLoterij supports organisations active in culture, sport and welfare. In 2025, it distributed more than €160 million to 64 cultural partners and more than 4,400 charities, clubs and associations.
The VriendenLoterij is part of the Postcode Lottery Group, which operates the Postcode Lottery format in five countries. In 2025, the group donated €1 billion to charities and cultural partners worldwide.
During the last council meeting before the elections, the city council approved the development strategy and the outdoor space plan for Laakhaven’s Holland Spoor. This will enable the construction of 11,400 homes, tens of thousands of square meters of amenities, and a completely new city park. There will also be space for businesses, such as creative manufacturing companies, restaurants, shops, and offices.
Klaas Verschuure, Alderman for Urban Development: “Today, we’re laying the foundation for The Hague in fifteen years. This is fantastic news for everyone looking for a home in the city, and for their children and grandchildren. We’re doing this in a neighborhood that we’re renovating tremendously: currently gritty, soon to be abundant in greenery. Car-free and with good cycling and walking paths. A glimpse into The Hague of the future.”
The Hague is expected to grow by 100,000 new residents by 2050. Therefore, many new homes will need to be built within the existing city limits. The inner-city development Laakhavens Hollands Spoor, part of the Central Innovation District, is unique in the Netherlands on this scale. This development is particularly noteworthy because The Hague is already the most densely populated city in the Netherlands.
The plans represent a quarter of The Hague’s total housing production until 2040. Some projects, such as Waldourp Four, have already begun, and the zoning plan for EsscherGardens is finalized. To ensure the growth remains livable, the municipality is investing heavily in a sustainable neighborhood. Additional green spaces will be created for socializing and relaxing, for pedestrians and cyclists, and amenities will be provided in all residential buildings.
With the development strategy, the municipality is directing the pace and sequence of developments. To this end, solid agreements have been made with market players throughout the area. In the Laakhaven Centraal sub-area, surrounding the Megastores, the municipality is collaborating with COD, Amvest, Atenor, Ten Brinke, MyB, and The Hague-based development investor MS Vastgoed, among others. Together, they are making agreements on the number of affordable homes and facilitating the development of a new neighborhood shopping center with home furnishings stores, as well as ensuring sufficient quality amenities, such as dentists and doctors, in the area. The market players, together with the municipality and the national government, are also contributing to the development of the central city park.
The city council held a vigorous debate on the plans and submitted several motions and amendments, for example, regarding green spaces and healthcare facilities, and regarding the city council’s influence, even after the elections.
The last days of a person’s life are often spent in a single room. A room where farewells are said, where memories are shared, and where closeness matters. The Roparun Foundation is now focusing on precisely that space with the introduction of Roparun rooms for hospices: fully furnished guest rooms in hospices, focused on comfort, peace, and quality of life.
With a new hospice policy, the foundation is making a clear choice. It focuses on what guests and their loved ones truly feel. The hospice room itself.
Roparun has supported virtually all hospices in the Netherlands for 35 years. But due to growing demand, the increasing number of hospices, and significant differences in requests, it was time for a focus. No more scattered investments, but targeted support where it can make the greatest difference: in the room where someone spends their final days or weeks.
The new Roparun rooms are guest rooms fully furnished with support from the foundation. Think comfortable (couple) beds, comfortable chairs, warm lighting, furniture, and details that contribute to a sense of peace and security. No construction projects, no technical interventions, just a tangible difference for the guest.
Palliative care under pressure
The Netherlands now has over 200 hospices and near-home homes, largely run by volunteers. The need for palliative care is growing rapidly. In 2023, 7,500 people who wanted to die in a hospice were unable to find one. In 2024, over 12,000 people spent their final years in a hospice, an 11% increase compared to the previous year. Due to an aging population and longer illnesses, this pressure will only increase in the coming years.
It is precisely in this reality that Roparun wants to contribute where it really counts: to the daily well-being of the guest.
The guest room central
The core of the new policy is clear and humane. The foundation will now primarily focus on furnishing guest rooms. For near-home hospices, this means a contribution of up to €17,500 per room, with a provisional maximum of six rooms per hospice. High-care hospices and palliative care units can apply for supplements to existing basic facilities, for example, for additional comfort furniture.
Common areas, structural modifications, and labor costs are not covered by the policy. The focus is entirely on that one room where farewell, closeness, and tranquility converge.
With fixed maximum amounts and a national benchmark for products, Roparun ensures greater equality and predictability.
Hospice rooms furnished with the organization’s support will also feature a recognizable Roparun logo. This will make it clear where the Roparun proceeds are spent and will continue to highlight the importance of palliative care.
Lesly Wolters, director of the Roparun: “In the final stages of someone’s life, comfort shouldn’t be a luxury or a coincidence. The hospice room is the place where people say goodbye to life, together with their loved ones. You want to feel warmth there. Peace. Dignity.
With the Roparun rooms, we’re making a very conscious choice: our support should be as directly tangible as possible for the guest. By establishing clear guidelines, we can contribute more honestly and effectively and ensure that more people can live out their final years with dignity.
Future
With this policy, the organization aims to support all near-home homes in the Netherlands with newly furnished guest rooms over the coming decades. This way, the foundation will continue to contribute structurally to warm, humane palliative care, now and in the future.
About Roparun
Roparun has been committed to palliative care for people with cancer for 35 years. The foundation supports hospices, wish ambulances, hairpieces, and vacations for people with cancer and their loved ones, among other things. Proceeds are raised during the annual Roparun over Pentecost weekend, when thousands of participants walk and cycle from France and the Netherlands to Rotterdam. In 2025, the Roparun raised more than €4.7 million.
Earlier this week, the municipalities of The Hague and Wassenaar jointly launched the “Green Beach Scheveningen-Wassenaar.” With this festive launch, both municipalities took an important step toward a more natural, biodiverse, and climate-resilient coastal area. The municipalities will no longer clean these stretches of beach with machines, allowing nature to take its course. Volunteers and visitors will be deployed to keep the beach clean.
The Green Beach is a coastal zone where nature is given more space. The Hague section of the beach starts north of the last beach access point at the end of the Zwarte Pad parking lot and extends to the municipal border. Its length, including the Wassenaar section, is approximately 2 kilometers. By allowing wind, sand, and sea to do their work, a dynamic landscape is created where pioneer plants return, dune formation begins, and coastal birds and insects find more habitat. This not only makes the beach greener but also more resilient to climate change. Aldermen Laurens van Doeveren (Wassenaar) and Robert Barker (The Hague) kicked off the event. Various other organizations were also present, including representatives from the South Holland Landscape Foundation, the Dune Conservation Foundation, Dunea, IVN Nature Education, Bird Protection Netherlands, the Anemoon Foundation, and representatives from BeachClean & Workout.
Nature the space
The project’s launch was all about connection, collaboration, and inspiration. Alderman Robert Barker (The Hague): “With the Green Beach, we’re giving nature a place on our coast again. By creating space for plants, animals, and natural processes, we’re not only enhancing biodiversity but also enhancing the beach experience. This is an investment in a healthy, future-proof coast that everyone can continue to enjoy.”
The Hague and Wassenaar share the lead
The Green Beach is located on the border between The Hague and Wassenaar. Alderman Laurens van Doeveren (Wassenaar): “In our beach vision for the Wassenaarse Slag, we emphasized the importance of closely linking recreation and nature experiences. While the Green Beach isn’t located on the Slag itself, it aligns seamlessly with our vision for the entire coastal area. We are working with all stakeholders toward the Green Beach Pennant, the quality mark for sustainable and environmentally friendly beach management. All of this is supported by the dedication of many volunteers, and I am proud of what they are making possible. That’s why I’m delighted that we are joining forces with The Hague to support this enthusiastic beach community.”
