“How do you rebuild armed forces after years of budget cuts? And what can we, as young professionals, learn from the way the Ministry of Defence and industry work together?”
During the VYP-training on how the defence industry works, trainer Hompe Heijmerink challenged us to reflect on these questions. What followed was a highly accurate and relevant discussion on the operations of the defence industry, the protection of subsea infrastructure, and the importance of collaboration between government and the private sector. Young Professional Daan Berk participated in the training and shares his lessons and experiences in this blog.
From Expectation Management to Systems Thinking
The training did not start with a theoretical framework or presentation filled with data, but rather with a simple, open-ended question: “What do you want to learn today?” This approach immediately set the tone. The group mentioned keywords such as relevance, timeliness, and applicability. We wanted to understand how the defence themes could be translated into our own professional context.
Trainer Hompe then provided a comprehensive overview of the current dynamics within the Dutch defence industry, an industry that, after decades of budget cuts, is now being challenged to redefine and rebuild itself. The FinDef research report served as a key starting point. Defence can only scale up successfully if three conditions are met: long-term commitments from the government, market-conform financing, and realistic returns for the industry. While these three conditions may appear technical, they point to something more fundamental: trust and cooperation. Without that foundation, not only does the production of defence equipment risk stagnation, but so will trust in the system.
An invisible world beneath the sea
The second part of the training quite literally took us deeper: down to the seabed. Beneath the surface lies a network of cables and pipelines that forms the backbone of modern society. From energy supply to data transmission, nearly every aspect of our daily lives relies on this infrastructure. What many of us were unaware of is the extent to which this infrastructure is hardly protected against espionage or sabotage.
“You can build walls as strong as you like on land, but if the cables under the sea are vulnerable, everything will still come to a standstill.”
That is precisely why SeaSEC was established: a collaboration between six European ministries of defence aimed to improve the security of undersea infrasructure. SeaSEC brings together governments, research institutes, and companies to test, innovate, and protect. However, according to trainer Hompe, there is still a long way to go. The protection of critical infrastructure in the Netherlands is still far from the desired level.
Scaling up for the future
The final part of the training focused on Fugro’s role. As a geotechnical company, Fugro has knowledge and expertise relevant to the defence sector. In the coming years, Fugro will further position itself within this sector.
The training showed that scaling up the Dutch armed forces cannot be achieved without difficulty and that both government and business community must make efforts. Companies would do well to stay informed about developments within the defence industry and threats to their own security. This also applies to organizations that are not directly involved in the defence industry.
Relevance to the maritime sector
The training was particularly relevant to us as Venturn Young Professionals, given our close ties to the maritime industry. The content was not only timely but directly applicable to client-facing scenarios. Terminals must be resilient to cyber attacks and sabotage. Shipowners must be aware of the risks to their operations and protect themselves against them.
The key takeaway from this training is clear: significant work lies ahead to ensure the resilience and future-readiness of the maritime sector.
About the VYP traineeship
The Venturn Young Professionals (VYP) traineeship offers young talents the opportunity to develop within the maritime and logistics sector. In addition to challenging assignments at leading organisations, trainees follow a two-year development programme full of training, coaching and practical learning experiences. This enables them to grow into the leaders of the future in the maritime supply chain.
