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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek (TNO; English: Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research) is an independent research organisation in the Netherlands that focuses on applied science.
![]() New Babylon in The Hague, head office of TNO since 2015 | |
Abbreviation | TNO |
---|---|
Formation | 1932 |
Purpose | applied and contract research |
Headquarters | The Hague, Netherlands |
Employees | 2,600 |
Website | https://www.tno.nl/en/ |
TNO’s mission is to connect people and knowledge to create innovations that boost the sustainable competitive strength of industry and well-being of society. TNO works in collaboration with partners and focusses on nine societal domains. As an organisation operating under public law, TNO has an independent position and based on these preconditions, TNO creates independent and reliable solutions to the grand challenges our societies face. The approximately 2,600 employees work to provide innovations, research and data that can readily be applied by businesses and governments. The organisation also conducts contract research, offers specialist consulting services, and grants licences for patents and specialist software. TNO tests and certifies products and services, and issues an independent evaluation of quality. Moreover, TNO sets up new companies to market innovations.
TNO was established by law in 1932 to support companies and governments with innovative, practicable knowledge.[1] As a statutory organisation, TNO has an independent position that allows to give objective, scientifically founded judgments. It is similar to the German Fraunhofer Society and, to a lesser degree, CSIRO in Australia. Furthermore, TNO held also 10% of the Austrian research centre Joanneum Research from 2004 to 2014.[2]
TNO fulfils the role of innovator on behalf of the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, and the Geological Survey of the Netherlands. In these cases, TNO is entrusted with knowledge-intensive government responsibilities related to defence and security, workforce participation and the Geological Survey.
TNO’s strategy is based on technological advances and trends in society. The work of TNO is focused on 9 domains which are in line with the challenges and goals of the national economic policy, based on so-called Top Sectors, and with social issues relevant to The Netherlands and Europe.
At the start of 2018 the work of TNO is focused on 9 domains, each covered by an oganisational unit.
TNO has signed the SDG charter in order to help realize the Sustainable Development Goals.
TNO is a not-for-profit knowledge organisation. In order to ensure continuity the organisation generates a modest profit in order to fund investments, ensure continuity in knowledge development and a sustainable and healthy financial position.
The Early Research Programmes and Shared Innovation Programmes are always funded in part with public funds. The knowledge created in this way is subsequently further developed as part of public-private research with partners; this process is also referred to as ‘shared-innovation’. In addition research results are further developed and applied in contract research, which is fully funded by TNO’s customers. Through this process, TNO claims, it brings research closer to the market and actively transfers it through spin-outs and licenses.
TNO is headquartered in The Hague. Other locations include: Delft, Rijswijk, Leiden, Groningen, Helmond, Soesterberg, Utrecht, Zeist and Eindhoven. TNO also has international branch offices in Tokyo (Japan), Toronto (Canada), Brussels (Belgium), Doha (Qatar), Singapore and Aruba. The locations Hoofddorp and Enschede were closed in 2014.[16]
In 2006 TNO-ITSEF, a subsidiary organisation of TNO, was criticized for resisting publication of its test reports regarding widely used voting computers in the Netherlands. In the same year a Swiss research group refuted a widely publicized TNO report claiming UMTS radiation is a health hazard.[17] The organisation also received criticism after the evacuation of 200 residents of an Amsterdam housing estate over fears of its structural integrity when the construction had been technically approved by TNO only five months earlier.[18]
Also in 2006 TNO was criticized for their handling of an investigation into the collapse of a balcony in Maastricht in 2003 that killed two people.[19]
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