Belgium’s digital economy is at a crossroads. The headlines tell one story; the data tells another. Together they form the Belgian Paradox: real short-term weakness alongside exceptional long-term strength.

On the downside, growth slowed. In 2024, ICT revenue rose just 1.9%, the lowest increase in a decade, and the sector lost 1,750 jobs. That’s a signal we can’t ignore.

But stopping there would be missing the point. Belgian ICT delivers the highest added value per worker in the EU. Investors see it too: despite choppy markets, Belgian start-ups and scale-ups secured record funding last year of +€1,4 billion, fuel for the next wave of innovation. And the runway is long: forecasts suggest AI revenues could nearly triple by 2030 to approach €10 billion. In cyber, our footprint punches well above our economic weight thanks to the international institutions we host. Among large enterprises, AI adoption is already mainstream, not experimental.

Equally important, Belgium is playing an exemplary role in cybersecurity by setting practical standards and guidance. The Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium’s CyberFundamentals (CyFun) gives organisations a clear, step-by-step baseline aligned to leading frameworks and NIS2, with assurance levels that make adoption realistic for smaller teams. This framework is also gaining international traction: Ireland and Romania have formally adopted it, and other European countries are exploring its introduction, evidence that Belgium’s approach travels well.

So what should we do now? We need to attack the skills bottleneck with serious investments in training, reskilling and retention. At the same time, we must bring SMEs into the fold by demystifying cybersecurity and AI by making their adoption affordable and practical. And we should solidify our technical edge with hybrid data-centre strategies that blend on-prem control with cloud agility, an architecture that turns ambition into operational reality.

Belgium is a hub of high-value digital ingenuity. Let’s stop waiting for “clear global signals” and set our own. If we close the skills gap, scale AI responsibly and harden our cyber posture, the next rebound can launch a new wave of Belgian tech champions.

Continue the conversation with peers at our next CIONET community event, The New CISO, where we connect security leadership with AI adoption, hybrid architectures and resilient growth. Miguel De Bruycker, Director-General of the CCB, will be part of the team on stage.

Sources
Agoria/NSSO, January 2025.
Eurostat, 2022 data.
Statbel/Eurostat, 2024 survey data.