Biography Mr. Kees Rovers
Founder, President and CEO of Close the Gap BV, the Netherlands
In the first 20 years of his professional life, Kees held several senior-management positions with the Dutch cooperative bank Rabobank. In 1985 he created his first multi-media enterprise: Telematica International and introduced the French Minitelsystem in the Netherlands. He believes that electronic services can help us to transform our society into a more transparent, better, creative and intellectual society.
Five years ago he took the initiative, together with the Director of the local housing corporation in Nuenen to change the way in which citizens own and access advanced services. Kees realised that in particular elderly and disabled people could use advanced digital services (through a high speed fiber network) to enable them to have more control of their lives, maintain their independence in their own homes and enhance their quality of life.
Kees was determined to base the new services on real member involvement in determining community needs. In 2002, he set up a ‘user feedback committee’ to explore the needs and benefits for the different organisations and interest groups in the town - from churches to schools, to the local Turkish community and other stakeholders. As the idea of Ons Net (Our Net) grew, people became excited by the potential. Doctors saw that e-health care could become a reality. Ministers realised that they might find a new audience for their sermons. A real community spirit grew around the key ideas of ‘local for local’ and ‘more for less’. The co-operative Ons Net was realised and in 2004, within a short space of time (5 months) all 8000 households in Nuenen were connected to a community owned fibre network. They achieved a take-up rate of 97%!
Kees Rovers is emphatic that "it's about people, not about technology" - that everything should be pitched at the level of a 75-year-old woman who neither has nor wants a computer (but does want services that will allow her to enjoy a high quality of life in her own home for as long as possible).
Kees is also emphatic that these are basic services, which should not be controlled by only a small group of private investors. As he says: “It’s time to reinvent co-operatives”.
Kees frequently speaks, around the globe, on the Close the Gap cooperative Model and was recently awarded a knighthood by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix for, in particular, his founding of Ons Net Nuenen. Close the Gap advises on and assists communities in (in the Netherlands and Internationally) the creation of their own fiber cooperative and connected community. More information can be found at
Kees was born on June 23, 1945 in Son, a village near Eindhoven in the South of the Netherlands. Kees is married, has two children and four grandchildren.
Nuenen, April 2008