Theo Roelandt

Chief Analyst Enterprise & Innovation, Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs,

Theo J.A. Roelandt studied economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam and graduated in 1986 with a Master thesis on “Clusters in the Dutch Economic Structure” (cum laude). In 1994 his Ph.D thesis on “Ethnic Stratification and the Underclass” (cum laude) was published. He worked at the Institute for Social and Economic Research at Erasmus University, at TNO Centre for Technology and Policy Studies, at the Research Centre for Economic Policy at Erasmus University. Since 1996 he has worked in several positions in the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs (Economic Policy, Industry Policy, Innovation Policy, Economic Policy Strategy & Research and International Affairs Directorates). From 2007 he is the Chief Analyst for Enterprise & Innovation at the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation.

In 1990 he was, with his colleague Justus Veenman, awarded the Wolters Kluwer Price for a publication on the labor market position of young immigrants in the Netherlands, conducted for the Scientific Council for Government Policy in the Netherlands. In the 1980s until mid 1990s he published several (inter)national publications on the social and economic position of immigrants in the Netherlands. From 1997 - 1999 he managed the OECD focus group on cluster analysis and cluster based policy making. This international network produced “Boosting Innovation: The Cluster Approach” published at OECD in 1999. Theo Roelandt chaired the OECD working party on Technology and Innovation Policy (TIP) from 2001 – 2006, was vice-Chair of the OECD Committee for Science & Technology Policy as well as member of the Bureau of the OECD Committee of Industry and Business Environment. He has published several publications in the field of innovation, productivity growth and enterprise policies. At the ministry he has been involved in several white policy papers on evidence-based green growth, cluster-based, industry and innovation policies and in impact-, data- and policy analyses.

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