Ten large national collection holders have united in a consortium with the aim of digitizing their collections. The Canon of the Netherlands will serve as the guideline. The expectation is that the project, that has been named Netherlands Heritage: Digital! will open up countless new and interesting opportunities for education, science, the creative industry and the public at large. However, what are the overall social benefits expected to arise from these applications?

This report describes the outcomes of a study performed by SEO Economic Research during the months that the Netherlands Heritage: Digital! project was taking increasingly concrete shape. It has also been previously published in Dutch: SEO-rapport 2007-52.