Two years of weekly personalized access
Siip is celebrating a milestone month: the technology has now been used weekly in Dutch football stadiums for two years.
A perfect time to look back at those years, together with CEO Remco Voorhorst. Years of success, learning moments, and valuable partnerships.
‘Hundreds of thousands of successful visits, made possible by Siip’s technology.’
How do you look back on the past few years?
‘I see it as a valuable learning period. Football plays an important role in Dutch society. Through Siip, we’ve been able to contribute to that and truly make an impact.
It’s also just really enjoyable to work with football clubs—everything involving sports gives me energy. Over the past years, it’s been great to take a deeper look behind the scenes with clubs and help think through solutions that truly fit their needs.
And when I’m not watching a match live in the stadium, but on TV, and I see thousands of people cheering who entered using our technology—I feel incredibly proud!’
What has proven to be important in this process?
‘That we genuinely want to understand ‘football’ and the complexity around it. We’ve listened closely and translated that understanding into our technology. And we’re still doing that—we’re always evolving.
Technology that’s necessary, but also convenient. And compliant with laws and regulations. Compliance and a great user-experience really go hand in hand.
We also make implementation as easy as possible, helping clubs explain and support the technology. We truly stand alongside those responsible at the clubs—as partners—adapting to what they need. Every club is different. And above all, the app users—the fans—are central. Convenience for the supporter: that’s what our technology is built for, and that’s also how we support the clubs.”
What have you learned the most from?
‘That it’s important to keep listening and offer flexibility. For example, our technology for personalized access can be provided in an app we build, but also within other apps, in partnership with various app developers. In new or existing apps.
We’ve also seen that internal dynamics within organizations are important and often unpredictable. This can make things difficult, also for suppliers. Patience is key—but again, so is ease of use. Because something new doesn’t have to be complicated. We’re increasingly helping with that, too.’
‘That the people we do this for truly value it, makes me most proud.
That alone means our mission is succeeding—we help thousands of fans every week gain quick, digital access to their favorite stadium, and receive hardly any questions about it. I also love seeing how many people share their tickets, meaning even more people benefit from this digital solution.
We get lots of positive reactions from fans, including in personal conversations. One moment that stuck with me was during a fan night when the app was launched: one supporter was amazed at the speed, and immediately shared his excitement with everyone in the room—he was so proud of the innovation at his club. Beautiful!’
What’s coming up next?
‘Together with the clubs, the KNVB, and VWS/Sportinnovator, we’ve brought a fantastic solution into practice. This has been a co-production aimed at tackling both social and technical challenges.
We want to expand this even further to help more fans access their stadiums digitally. In addition, we’re also active in other sectors with our digital ID Wallet solutions—and we’ll continue to be.’
