An interview with Joram Nauta (opens in new window), Liaison in the CIIIC Programme Team on behalf of implementing partner TNO (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research). In his day job, he's Innovation Orchestrator at TNO Vector, where he enjoys organising impact by building programmes with a wide range of partners,
A national network for immersive experiences
The five labs BRIX (Brabant, North Holland – Eindhoven, Tilburg, Breda and Purmerend), IX3 (Amsterdam), MIX (Hilversum), PRIME (Zeist) and SHINE (Rotterdam) are being connected into one national network: IX Labs NL (opens in new window).
Thanks to funding from the Dutch National Growth Fund programme Creative Industries Immersive Impact Coalition (CIIIC), they're helping to seize the opportunities immersive experiences offer, by developing facilities that let businesses, creative organisations, researchers, educational institutions and societal partners tap into the expertise available. Joram Nauta (opens in new window): 'Together with the other participants in activities funded by CIIIC, we form an ecosystem in which we provide the facilitating locations with knowledge and expertise.'
What is CIIIC's (public) task, and how do the IX Labs fit into that exactly?
'CIIIC invests in building knowledge, expertise, skills and facilities for the benefit of the wider immersive experiences (IX) ecosystem. The barriers to entry for players wanting to get involved are high — technologically, financially and creatively. That's why the CIIIC programme supports players in the fragmented creative industries in exploring and applying the potential of IX, using these accessible, low-threshold labs, with the aim of creating new (societal) earning potential for the Netherlands.
As part of the CIIIC programme, IX Labs are open, accessible facilities where parties in an innovation ecosystem can easily get acquainted with — and benefit from — the knowledge, expertise and networks available there. The IX Labs make expensive technology widely available and lower the threshold for experimenting with it, validating creative work, training, scaling up and implementing it. They're also the places where our learning communities (opens in new window) can take root, where our Innovation Impact Challenges (opens in new window) can carry out research, and where research consortia can run their experiments; this is how we ensure the CIIIC programme moves forward as a whole, and how we invest in places that can be used sustainably going forward.'
On what basis were the five labs selected, and how exactly does CIIIC support the labs — through guidance, knowledge, networks, hands-on help, funding?
'Through a carefully run selection process (opens in new window), TNO received plans from parties and consortia across the Netherlands between October 2025 and February 2026, all looking to contribute to this national network of IX Labs within the conditions set by CIIIC. An independent committee supported TNO in making the selection.
As mentioned, the network consists of five labs that, both individually and together, offer the IX community a broad range of functionalities and technologies. The labs themselves also invest in the activities and facilities needed to make them commercially viable in the long run and to put them at the service of the field and the CIIIC programme. Besides CIIIC's financial contribution (opens in new window), TNO provides content-related and technical support to help the five labs add — and keep adding — value, through a dedicated learning programme. In other words, these parties are supported in developing a state-of-the-art facility with a sustainable, long-term business model.'
Say I'm a maker, entrepreneur, researcher or organisation with an idea for immersive technology. Why would I head to an IX Lab, and what can I actually do there?
'The labs bring together a wealth of IX expertise and an active (local) network of partners, with each lab offering its own menu of services and products to serve different target groups. Even more important, I think, is that the network — as part of the larger IX innovation ecosystem — gives makers, entrepreneurs, researchers and educators the chance to collaborate: to develop, research and test together, and so build a solid evidence base for parties looking to put these technologies to use. In short, this labs programme makes new IX technology — along with the support behind it — accessible, findable and affordable: in other words, available to everyone interested in getting involved or teaming up.
Some facilities within the IX Labs, where quick experiments, showcases or validations can take place, have an explicit public-facing role and our open to the public. But ultimately, the goal isn't just to give visitors a positive experience of IX — it's also to strengthen the earning potential of the creative industries at the same time.'
This network of collaborating labs with unified access strengthens the programme and the cohesion between its action lines, making it easier to join forces with others.
Summed up: what will these labs make possible that would be much harder to achieve without this national infrastructure?
'This single point of access makes it possible to join forces on choices around suppliers or technology, for example, and to safeguard them going forward; the field is currently fragmented. As a standalone lab, your position towards suppliers is different than when several parties approach them together.
It gives the Dutch IX industry a clear position, including towards foreign parties. These are the flagship labs, this is what we do, this is what's possible, and we do it together.'
On a more personal note: why immersive technology? What does it mean to you – and what does your IX dream look like?
'In my work at TNO, I did a lot of research into healing environments in healthcare settings, and worked together with SME entrepreneurs on an 'interactive sauna experience': a combination of multi-sensory stimuli within an experience environment. Combining the creative side with a use case and business model, and making it all work together, was great fun. Who wouldn't want to become a sauna jockey?'
What's the most enjoyable, exciting, or important part of this job for you?
'Ultimately, I do this because the subject matter is fun and inspiring. Connecting the creative side – exploring what IX can do – with opportunities for real-world application is both the challenge and the pitfall; how do we get the possibilities across to the people who'll actually use it, and get them excited about further development, testing, adoption and scaling up?
Given the looming labour shortage, using IX as a training and education tool seems like a no-brainer – yet there's still hesitation around adoption. How do we lower the barrier to using IX, raise the quality, and demonstrate what's possible? That's exactly what the labs are for!'
And: what will your role be now that the labs network has launched/is launching?
'First of all, it's my job, together with the CIIIC team, to make sure everyone gets off to a strong start – that the IX labs invest in new facilities and get them up and running, while at the same time we keep building the wider network, the community, and cross-pollination between the lines of action.
The starting point is that the IX Labs exist to be used, and we want to show that the labs genuinely drive the acceleration and adoption of IX. The ultimate proof that the IX labs are working is, of course, intensive use of the labs by parties working on CIIIC projects and beyond.
Naturally, there are themes across all the labs that mean we need additional knowledge – and want to develop it – such as dependency on technology or suppliers (as currently exists, for example, with players like Meta, ed.), implementing or dealing with new standards or protocols, or clear rules around the ethical questions the IX community faces or draws a line at. Within the programme [CIIIC], this specific theme, Public Values, is also being picked up as an integral part of the work.'
Back to the labs: CIIIC runs through to 2029, all being well – and time is flying (the programme launched in 2024): what does the ideal, end result of the five labs look like to you?
'The labs were selected partly on the basis of a credible, sustainable revenue model, which should ensure that the current momentum leads to a thriving national IX Labs network with all the regional partners involved. What I expect to find are labs buzzing with activity: designers experimenting, researchers supporting IX projects and running training sessions, and businesses and civil-society organisations testing how IX can help them tackle the challenges they face, good and bad.
What I find exciting about this is that we're asking an industry that's still developing to build a sustainable revenue model – with IX labs that are, at the same time, dependent on work coming out of the creative sector and commissions from the people who'll use it. In other words, how do we convince and bring on board both the parties who don't yet fully grasp the opportunities IX offers, and the future partners who will actually develop, experiment and build products for them?
Even more concretely: how do we bridge the gap between the level of IX quality business needs, the potential of the labs, and the IX currently being made within the creative industries, when the people who need to deliver it still partly need to be trained? And all this in a world where technology keeps changing faster and faster… that's the big question!'
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