And anyone who thinks that it is only about simple production work is wrong. "Even higher educated people are not safe from automation and robotization," says Scholtanus. There seems to be no escape, which is why the companies of Innovatiecluster Drachten are going along with this development. ,,Otherwise there will certainly be no more jobs'', Kortman reasons.

Contest

In a fascinating lecture about the use of robots, with many practical examples and a real competition between humans and robots, Ben Scholtanus and Hendri Kortman took a full house on their journey into the future. Not only did they consider countless new possibilities of robots for industry. They also raised the difficult questions; Are robots replacing people's jobs? Kortman was clear about this. “By using robots, employees remain deployable for a long time because they help to do the physically demanding or boring work. Moreover, the use of robots creates new work, because robots also have to be installed and maintained.”

Read the full report article from the Leeuwarder Courant from Thursday 23 March. Curious about the other 4 lectures? Then sign up at the Leeuwarder Courant.