As of Friday, the Innovatiecluster Drachten has another company: Science & Technology Corporation or S&T for short. This company was recently established in Visvliet (between Grijpskerk and Buitenpost), in the same building as KXA Software Innovations. S&T helps other high-tech companies develop systems and processes and reliable software solutions. The company began in 2000 in Delft and in the meantime also has an office in Oslo.
The Drachten Innovation Cluster now has 10 participants: the companies Neopost Technologies, BD Kiestra, Variass Medical systems, Irmato, Norma-IMS, SMST, Whisper Power, Delta Instruments, Philips CL Drachten, and now S&T. The Municipality of Smallingerland supports and facilitates the Innovation Cluster particularly in the area of communication. The participants in the Innovation Cluster are companies engaged in the development, production and sale of high-tech products. Together they have over 2700 employees of whom 850 are product developers. More than €100 million is invested annually in research and development in Drachten.
The companies work together to keep innovating. For example, they make use of each other's expertise. In addition, the companies seek out the educational institutions to jointly look for a good connection between education and the labor market. General director of S&T Erik Zoutman signed the cooperation agreement on behalf of the company. Kor Visscher did so on behalf of Innovatiecluster Drachten.