Amsterdam - A world leader of innovation

Amsterdam is the capital city of the Netherlands and is home to a wealth of historical knowledge, as well as a large artistic scene (Vincent, Wintle, & Werkman, n.d.). Relating to Amsterdam’s involvement in Digital Social Innovation (DSI), the history of the city of Amsterdam must be looked at. Since Amsterdam is a largely coastal port city, issues of flooding have caused the city problems since the 16th century (Digital Social Innovation Europe, Amsterdam’s Take On Digital Social Innovation, n.d.). This issue caused the citizens of Amsterdam to work together to find different ways to protect the city, thus giving rise to Amsterdam’s current large-scale involvement in social innovation (Digital Social Innovation Europe, Amsterdam’s Take On Digital Social Innovation, n.d.). As identified by Digital Social Innovation Europe (n.d.), Amsterdam’s holistic approach to innovation is one of its biggest success factors relating to why it is one of the world’s leaders for innovation (Digital Social Innovation Europe, Amsterdam’s Take On Digital Social Innovation, n.d.). By considering the opinions of all citizens and stakeholders, Amsterdam is able to bring “together multiple ‘forces’ in the city.” (Digital Social Innovation Europe, Amsterdam’s Take On Digital Social Innovation, n.d.).

Aiden M.