The Wtp is fundamentally transforming the sector: pensions are no longer just about administration and security, but increasingly about insight, choice and support for members. The matter is urgent, as 2028 is fast approaching, members expect digital services, and technology is developing faster than many governance and administration models can keep up with. In practice, we see that collaboration between sector stakeholders in the field of innovation is not yet always structurally embedded. That is why a joint approach could be valuable: a sector-wide innovation hub, supported by a shared sandbox and thematic labs, so that knowledge, capacity and experiments are better pooled and innovation moves more quickly from idea to application.

The Dutch pensions sector is at a crossroads. The introduction of the Wtp is more than just a technical change to the system. It calls for a fundamental rethinking of the way pensions are conceived, and how they are experienced and organised. Transparency, new ambitions and opportunities for participants to take action are no longer a wish, but a requirement. The sector can remain relevant and future-proof through targeted, collaborative innovation – not only in technology, but also in culture, collaboration and governance.

The urgency of innovation

The Wtp puts the member at the centre: greater insight, more choice, greater responsibility. This means that pension funds can no longer make do with generic communication and abstract assurances. Members expect real-time insight, personalised projections and proactive support, just as they are accustomed to from banks or e-commerce.

Research among Dutch pension scheme members[1] points to a widely shared need for understandable and digitally accessible information, and greater insight into their own pension situation.

Demographic trends such as an ageing population and individualisation are making the landscape more complex. According to the CBS population forecast[2], the proportion of people aged 65 and over will continue to rise over the coming decades, reaching around a quarter of the population by 2040.

At the same time, technology and digital services are developing faster than many governance and administration models can keep up with. Technologies such as artificial intelligence, open APIs and real-time data analysis are already widely used in sectors such as financial services and e-commerce, and also offer concrete applications for pension administration and member services. The pension sector cannot afford to fall behind. Innovation is needed to increase operational efficiency, control costs and meet societal expectations regarding sustainability and transparency.

The question of how funds can organise innovation effectively and collaboratively therefore deserves greater attention.

Fragmentation as both an opportunity and a challenge: what is holding us back?

Whereas in the past a few large funds and administrators set the pace, funds and administrators now more often work alongside one another on similar issues. The sector still has large implementing organisations and influential umbrella bodies, but the capacity for innovation has become more dispersed, meaning that coordinated alignment is less self-evident than before. This provides scope for experimentation and rapid pilot schemes, but also increases the risk of duplication of effort, fragmentation and a failure to realise economies of scale. This calls for a new way of organising: decentralised where possible, coordinated where necessary.

In addition to fragmentation, culture and legacy IT also act as brakes. Innovation requires managerial leeway, a willingness to experiment and sufficient mandate within the organisation. Moreover, much innovation fails not because of a lack of ambition, but due to outdated systems, poor data quality and high administrative burdens.

Sectoral innovation need not be imposed from the top down, but can emerge from a network of collaborating parties: funding bodies, implementing organisations, technology companies, knowledge institutions and – not least – the participants themselves. This is in line with broader societal trends towards ecosystems and platform organisations, in which knowledge-sharing and collaboration are central. In any form of sectoral collaboration, competition law frameworks, confidentiality and data security must be explicitly safeguarded in advance.

The solution: a shared innovation infrastructure

The foundation for successful innovation in the pensions sector is transparency: knowing who is working on what, what the needs and ambitions are, and where collaboration is possible. A central, easily accessible online catalogue is helpful for this purpose, providing all relevant parties with an overview of ongoing projects, innovation needs and available resources (such as APIs, datasets or sandbox environments). This not only promotes knowledge sharing but also makes it easier to find partners and launch pilot projects together. In effect, this lays the foundation for a sector-wide innovation hub.

In addition, a modular and open architecture is essential. Standards – such as DNB Good Practices, open-banking APIs and ISO standards – enable plug-and-play innovation. Use-case-driven solutions, such as microservices for life event messaging or ESG transparency, offer funds the flexibility to innovate in a targeted manner without having to reinvent the wheel every time.

True innovation also requires a cultural shift. Directors and policymakers can be trained in agile working, design thinking and data literacy. Risk appetite may be increased, with clear ‘safe zones’ (regulatory sandboxes) in which experimentation can take place without everything being immediately at stake.

Ideally, a regulatory sandbox would be set up in collaboration with regulators and policymakers. The regulators and government bodies mentioned (DNB, AFM, SZW, the Tax and Customs Administration) are cited solely to illustrate which parties might be involved in such an approach. No form of involvement, consent or commitment on the part of these parties can be inferred from this mention. This is explicitly a conceptual approach and not an existing or proposed mechanism. Data quality and cybersecurity are prerequisites: without reliable data, there can be no AI; without security, there can be no trust. A shared sandbox can bridge the gap between experimentation and implementation by making testing cheaper and more accessible for all participating parties.

How this takes shape in practice

What does a concrete roadmap look like? First and foremost, a rapid assessment of ongoing initiatives and innovation needs is required. A sector-wide survey, followed by an interactive dashboard, provides an immediate overview and insight. Next, the governance structure must be organised. This requires a facilitator with sector-wide support, sufficient mandate, a budget and a broadly representative board. This could be an existing umbrella organisation – such as the Pension Federation – but could just as easily be a consortium of implementing bodies or a partnership set up for this purpose. The choice of facilitating body is up to the sector itself.

Based on urgency (such as the Wtp, ESG legislation and digitalisation), thematic labs can be set up, each with its own leaders, budgets and concrete deliverables. A virtual test environment – a ‘sandbox’ containing anonymised or synthetic pension data – lowers the barrier to entry for start-ups and accelerates the transition from experimentation to implementation. This is, of course, carried out within the framework of the GDPR, with due regard for data minimisation, security and traceability risks. Finally, financial and organisational incentives are helpful: innovation vouchers for smaller funds, co-funding from a sectoral innovation fund, and challenges or hackathons centred on current pension use cases. This reveals three concrete building blocks: a sectoral innovation hub, a shared sandbox and thematic labs focusing on the most urgent transition challenges.

The facilitator: sector-wide support transcending party politics

Which party fulfils this facilitating role is less important than the question of whether the sector is prepared to invest jointly in innovation capacity. The decisive factor is that the facilitator does not direct, but facilitates: the platform belongs to the sector, not to a single party. Transparent KPIs, such as the number of pilot projects, the lead time from experiment to production, the adoption rate and participant satisfaction, make progress and impact measurable. In this way, innovation becomes not only inspiring but also manageable.

Learning from other sectors

Other sectors offer valuable inspiration:

• Fintech demonstrates how standardisation and open APIs accelerate innovation without any single party having to build everything. [3]
• In the healthcare sector, neutral data platforms and sandboxes have been set up via Health-RI[4] and MedMij[5], with joint governance.
• The energy sector is experimenting with flex markets and smart grids, coordinated by TenneT and regional grid operators[6][7].

These examples are not directly transferable – the pensions sector has its own legal frameworks and governance – but they do illustrate a broader pattern: shared infrastructure and collective learning capacity can accelerate innovation without removing local scope for customisation.

What can board members do tomorrow?

Board members who want to get started today can consider the following steps:

• Do not wait for central coordination.
• Appoint an internal innovation lead with a clear mandate.
• Join the sectoral innovation monitor and actively share your own innovation portfolio.
• Set aside a limited but visible annual innovation budget, so that experiments do not remain dependent on ad hoc funding.
• Launch one quick-win pilot within the foreseeable future, for example with personalised pension projections via an app.
• Encourage staff to pitch ideas and reward experiments, even if they fail.

Those who start with a single pilot often set more in motion than those who wait for a fully developed end-state.

Conclusion: towards a practical approach

The era of exclusively top-down innovation is over. The situation under the Wtp calls for network-driven, decentralised innovation, with scope for experimentation, collaboration and learning. But without coordination and oversight, the sector runs the risk of duplication, missed opportunities and a loss of relevance. For leaders, there is a clear course of action here: organise, facilitate and experiment.

A sectoral umbrella organisation or similar partnership could coordinate the shared catalogue and sandbox, without individual providers having to relinquish their autonomy or competitive position. The precise structure is a choice for the sector itself. The most concrete first step is simple: make innovation visible, set aside scope for a single pilot scheme and link it to a joint sector-wide approach. In this way, the pensions sector can remain relevant, agile and attractive: both to members and to the talent that the sector will desperately need in the future.

More columns by Dick Kamp

[1] https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/2026/01/15/netspar-rapportage-monitor-deelnemerservaringen-2026

[2] CBS forecast: the Netherlands will have 19 million inhabitants in 2037

[3] Fintech and finance in Amsterdam | I amsterdam

[4] Projects | Health-RI

[5] Stichting MedMij homepage

[6] TenneT’s Flexible Contracts to Provide 9GW Capacity, Easing Grid Access - World-Energy

[7] What are flexumers and how can they help transform energy markets? | World Economic Forum