Amsterdam Economic Board is joining ORAM Next Gen Festival 2026 as an ecosystem partner. It's a logical fit: both organisations focus on the future of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area — and on the gap between setting ambitions and actually delivering on them.
On Friday 28 August 2026, around 400 young professionals from industry, government and knowledge institutions will gather at UP Events Amsterdam. Not a traditional conference. No inspiration theatre. A festival where the transitions reshaping the region right now — energy, AI, talent, the port, governance — are discussed by the people working on them every day. The content draws on the Draghi report, the Wennink report and the Dutch AI Deltaplan, translated into what those agendas concretely mean for the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area.
Amsterdam Economic Board operates from the same logic. They connect businesses, governments, knowledge institutions and civil society organisations around the digital, circular and energy transitions, with a consistent focus on execution. That makes Next Gen a natural place to plug in: a festival where regional ambitions become concrete through the generation that will carry them forward.
"On paper, the plans are there. The real question is who is going to execute them, and how fast. That starts with the young professionals who move between policy and practice every day — and with the organisations that take them seriously." — Renko de Vries
What this partnership means in practice.
As an ecosystem partner, Amsterdam Economic Board will explore where it can contribute to the program in the run-up to 28 August, and — just as importantly — pick up on the conversations, signals and outcomes that come out of the festival. The energy in the room on the day matters, but so does what happens with it afterwards: which themes deserve follow-up, which coalitions emerge, and where regional execution can actually accelerate.
More announcements on the program, speakers and joint activations will follow in the coming months.
Ready to be there?
ORAM Next Gen Festival · August 28, 2026 · UP Events Amsterdam