Does Belgium have what it takes to attract tech talent? – High technology
A change in the copyright regime and an overly rigid stock option system have been shaking up the ecosystem of tech entrepreneurs for several weeks. All of this would harm the attractiveness of our country. In the midst of a talent war, that would be embarrassing. But are these really the only attractive points of Belgium?
The Belgian tech ecosystem has been in turmoil for a few weeks. After the great debate on the copyright mechanism that a lot of start-ups regularly use to favorably pay their developers, it is the question of stock options that has animated the discussions between the tech boss. The subject was put on the table following the departure of Collibra, the Belgian specialist in data management valued at more than 5 billion euros. The Brussels scale-up has indeed announced a change of structure in order to be overseen by a Dutch holding company. According to Felix Van de Maele, CEO of Collibra, it is the Belgian stock-options regime that poses a problem: too complex, not flexible enough. A remark in which a lot of start-up bosses then engulfed themselves: the departure of Collibra would be a warning signal. Belgium might no longer be attractive enough. The fiscal context, the proliferation of vacancies in tech, the low number of star start-ups… In the midst of the talent war and at a time when employees can work for any foreign company remotely, it there would be cause for concern. Especially since our country remains poorly ranked in international studies related to the tech sector. As proof, the official European DESI ranking (Digital Economy and Society Index) in which Belgium occupies 16th place in 2022, four levels lower than the previous year. As for the ranking of countries favorable to start-ups, conducted by Startup Blink in 2022, our country occupies 13th place in Europe. Nothing super-fancy. The new deal that the ecosystem could face is therefore puzzling.
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The Belgian tech ecosystem has been in turmoil for a few weeks. After the great debate on the copyright mechanism that a lot of start-ups regularly use to favorably pay their developers, it is the question of stock options that has animated the discussions between the tech boss. The subject was put on the table following the departure of Collibra, the Belgian specialist in data management valued at more than 5 billion euros. The Brussels scale-up has indeed announced a change of structure in order to be overseen by a Dutch holding company. According to Felix Van de Maele, CEO of Collibra, it is the Belgian stock-options regime that poses a problem: too complex, not flexible enough. A remark in which a lot of start-up bosses then engulfed themselves: the departure of Collibra would be a warning signal. Belgium might no longer be attractive enough. The fiscal context, the proliferation of vacancies in tech, the low number of star start-ups… In the midst of the talent war and at a time when employees can work for any foreign company remotely, it there would be cause for concern. Especially since our country remains poorly ranked in international studies related to the tech sector. As proof, the official European DESI ranking (Digital Economy and Society Index) in which Belgium occupies 16th place in 2022, four levels lower than the previous year. As for the ranking of countries favorable to start-ups, conducted by Startup Blink in 2022, our country occupies 13th place in Europe. Nothing super-fancy. The new deal that the ecosystem could face is therefore puzzling. The first recent earthquake in the Belgian tech microcosm? The issue of copyright, whose regime changes could hit digital companies hard. As part of the major tax reform carried out by the Minister of Finance, Vincent Van Peteghem, computer developers could be excluded from this authorized copyright regime (single tax of 15%). At the time of writing these lines, the vagueness persisted, of course, still on this subject. But companies in the sector were quick to mobilize. An online petition opposing this exclusion has reached more than 5,226 signatures, including that of the big names in the sector. Indeed, many start-ups use copyrights to pay their developers, who write as “authors” in the sense that they create the original code. A change of framework could therefore cost them dearly. “The majority of developers would lose between 200 and 600 euros net per month due to an increase in direct taxes”, notes the creator of the query. On his LinkedIn account at the beginning of November, Fabien Pinckaers, the boss of Odoo, shared his vision of the impact that the disappearance of the copyright regime would have: “One of the mechanisms for smoothing the edges of a Belgian system which is one of those that tax employment the most is income related to intellectual property. Our developers are declared to be 25% of their time in intellectual property, their net then goes from 2,131 euros per month to 2,469 euros for a same business cost”. The second jolt came after the “departure” of Collibra from the Belgian market. Or more precisely a change of structure allowing it to depend on a Dutch holding company, and therefore to benefit from another system of stock options. In Belgium, this would be too heavy, too complicated. Result ? “Very few Belgian companies are very generous in employed capital, observes Quentin Nickmans, co-founder of the start-up studio eFounders. Because it is too complicated to implement”. And the beneficiary must either pay (favorable) taxes at the time of the allocation of the stock options, before being able to exercise his right and without knowing what the company will be worth, or be taxed more heavily. “The Belgian legal framework is not conducive to stock options, confirms Cédric Donck, founder of Virtuology, a group of start-ups active in digital marketing. In Great Britain or the USA, the system is much more flexible and allows interest the employees much better. In Belgium, this remains complicated, in particular because of the administrative burden linked to the management of these stock options.” And Thibaud Elzière, co-founder of eFounders, continues: “It is certainly not the stock option system alone that makes people create companies, but it is a necessary condition for an ecosystem to creates. It is not enough but it is necessary”. In fact, these two “technical” points are not the only criteria that make it possible to gauge the attractiveness of our country in terms of the development of tech start-ups. “Our attractiveness is obviously not limited to a few tax measures, confirms Laurent Hublet, CEO of the BeCentral digital campus. Belgium has enough to develop a much better positioning than a lot of other European countries. There are other criteria. Still should we put them forward and have an overall strategy? First criterion, according to Laurent Hublet: our geographical position, at the heart of the continent and close to centers such as Paris, Amsterdam or London. And the attractiveness of our capital. Thibaud Elzière testifies to this: “Brussels offers an incredible quality of life, real estate is much more accessible than other major European capitals, which can also be reached quickly by train. Moreover, culturally, the city is just crazy compared to other European cities of similar size.” The man knows what he is talking about: at the head of the start-up studio eFounders for a little over 10 years, he is with his partner Quentin Nickmans at the origin of more than thirty tech companies, including several unicorns Europeans. Their studio was founded in Brussels from where this Frenchman develops few start-ups anywhere in the world. Moreover, the proximity of European authorities could help Belgium to position itself on strong themes. “Technology has today become an important political and regulatory issue, continues Laurent Hublet. The questions of European sovereignty in the face of the American and Chinese digital giants are crucial”. Or, on this ground, everything is decided in Brussels. Developments in artificial intelligence (AI) have also raised real questions. Its algorithms allow it to make certain decisions on behalf of human beings. Can we leave full latitude to AI? How to frame this new sector at the supranational level? Already in 2018, the entrepreneur Laurent Alexandre, a wise observer of these questions, insisted in our columns: “Brussels would have an interest in authorizing a large think tank specializing in questions of ethics and regulation of artificial intelligence. His position would justify such a project likely to attract great specialists in the field.” And AI is not the only theme that requires strong expertise around European authorities: cybersecurity, digital sovereignty, privacy, digital citizenship… Other assets are also put forward to justify Belgian attractiveness. Like “the presence of many universities with tech qualities within a limited perimeter, underlines Laurent Hublet. KU Leuven is very strong in terms of semiconductors and crypto, the University of Ghent is at the top in the field of software, with a solid mafia start-up born in Ghent. We can also mention names like Hugues Bersini (ULB), specialist in artificial intelligence, or Jean-Jacques Quisquater (UCLouvain), specialist in crypto. basic research is high and of high quality.” So what is Belgium missing? “Good marketing, reacts immediately the CEO of BeCentral. Unlike our country, some states have chosen an offensive and proactive strategy to position themselves on digital.” And to take Portugal as an example. The authorities have created the AICEP, a public agency for the development of a competitive business environment. She wrote a specific argument on tech. Its Why Portugal brochure has something to inspire: 26 pages highlighting the country’s references, the foreign tech stars who have settled there, local investments, ecosystem statistics in Porto and Lisbon. But also the many “competitive advantages” of the country: presence of local and foreign IT talents and talent development programs, existing financial incentives (financial support in R&D, tax exemptions for jobs created, favorable tax regime for expatriates, etc.). A document that does not itself change the attractiveness of Portugal but testifies to a coherent and common message from the authorities to attract tech talent and make the country a new digital hub… Thibaud Elzière of eFounders shares this need to play the country marketing card. For the entrepreneur of French origin, “the image of Brussels, the city I know best, is calamitous with the French. However, the more people there are who want to come to Belgium, the more things will happen there. things, including at the entrepreneurial level.” So far, each Region has played its marketing card, like Wallonia with Digital Wallonia. Certainly, with a good Belgian visibility but also with a rather limited international scope. And Laurent Hublet continues: “If the ecosystem has developed well, we unfortunately still observe a disconnection between the entrepreneurial and political world. There is not this shared vision. However, country branding should not come than politics. This must be the subject of a joint effort between entrepreneurs and public decision-makers. We must now really manage to build something that brings us together and display a Belgian identity.” Including in tech.