Dr Sijbolt Noorda, (Chairman of the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU), Paul Doop (Vice president of The Board University of Amsterdam and University of Applied Sciences Amsterdam ), Huib de Jong (Member of The Board, University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht), Martin Bossenbroek (Director, National Library of the Netherlands) and various other administrators, university professors, and university deans give their view on Open Access in a short film commissioned by SURF.

Dutch higher education institutions believe that radical improvements need to be made in Open Access to knowledge, information and data. Compared to the age of paper, digitisation of research and scientific/scholarly communication opens up opportunities that are still underutilised. Improved access creates a solid basis for the transfer of knowledge in education, knowledge generation for research, and knowledge valorisation for civil society. The central idea is that the results of publicly financed research should also be available to the public.

The Dutch higher education sector has declared 2009 to be Open Access Year. The aim is to boost Open Access to the results of scientific/scholarly and practice-based research. Efforts will be made throughout the year to formulate and implement an Open Access policy, develop and improve the knowledge infrastructure, establish a clear legal framework, and create awareness with all stakeholders.

The Dutch version without subtitles is available on: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYIzUb0LouI