Ockham IPS

What Ockham IPS does

Ockham IPS is a private Dutch research and policy consultancy headquartered in Utrecht with a secondary office in Zwolle, providing evaluations, studies, and advisory services across the full public-sector policy cycle. Its core offering is organized around three pillars: Policy Evaluation Services (assessing the progress, effectiveness, and impact of programmes such as ESF+, EU programmes, and national policy initiatives), Policy Studies and Research (evidence generation on labour market transitions, qualifications frameworks, education systems, and skills development), and Policy Consultancy (advisory support from policy design through implementation and evaluation). All services are delivered on a professional-services, commissioned basis—projects are won through competitive public-sector tendering rather than via productized pricing.

The firm's client base is anchored by European institutions and Dutch ministries, with named engagements for the European Commission, ETF, Cedefop, Eurofound, the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW), the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), WODC, and the European Parliament, alongside international organizations (UNESCO, ILO, UNICEF) and donor consortia (British Council, GIZ, LuxDev, Enabel). Themes addressed include labour market, qualifications, education systems, EU programmes (Erasmus+, ESF), teachers, lifelong learning, work-based learning, and knowledge management. Delivery is executed by a core team of 1–10 employees, drawing on a deep consortium of repeat research partners (Ecorys, Panteia, COWI, Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini, Metis, 3s, ICON Institut, FGB, LSE Enterprise, Cambridge Econometrics, SEOR, among others) to scale capacity without proportional headcount expansion.

Geographically, Ockham IPS spans the European Union (Netherlands, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Sweden, Romania, United Kingdom) while extending into Sub-Saharan Africa (Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Namibia, DRC, Congo, Liberia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Ghana, Cameroon, Egypt), the Western Balkans (Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo), the Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia), the Middle East (Lebanon, Tunisia), and Ukraine, primarily through UN-system and EU pre-accession programming. There are no disclosed funding rounds, parent entities, subsidiaries, or technology products, and no application, API, or AI components in the offering.

Name

Ockham IPS

Legal name

Ockham IPS

Website

https://ockham-ips.nl

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Ockham IPS is a Utrecht-based Dutch research and policy consultancy delivering evaluations, studies, and advisory services to the European Commission, Dutch ministries, and international organizations including UNESCO, ILO, and ETF across education, labour market, and lifelong learning domains.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Utrecht

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Consultancy and Evaluation Services: Revenue generated through commissioned research, evaluations, and consultancy projects for public sector clients including European institutions, Dutch government ministries, and international organizations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Ockham IPS is a Dutch research and consultancy firm that supports public sector clients with studies, evaluations, and consultancy across the policy cycle. The firm specializes in labour market, qualifications, education systems, EU programmes, teachers, lifelong learning, work-based learning, and knowledge management themes, serving clients such as the European Commission, Dutch ministries, UNESCO, ETF, Cedefop, ILO, and UNICEF.

Product overview

Ockham IPS is a policy research and evaluation consultancy that offers studies, evaluations, and consultancy services to public sector clients. The company focuses on policy analysis across labour market, qualifications, education systems, EU programmes, teachers, lifelong learning, work-based learning, and knowledge management themes. Their service offering comprises three integrated consulting pillars: Policy Evaluation Services (assessing programme progress and impact), Policy Studies and Research (conducting research to support evidence-based decisions), and Policy Consultancy (supporting clients throughout the policy cycle). The company works with clients including the European Commission, UNESCO, ETF, Cedefop, ILO, Dutch ministries, and other public sector organizations on projects ranging from local to global scope.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Policy Evaluation Services

Named customers11 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Fondazione Giacomo BrodolinicoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership on EU policy evaluations, particularly ESF-related studies. Collaborated on multiple European Commission projects including ESF impact assessments and ex-post evaluations.
• MetiscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner on European Social Fund evaluations and labour market studies. Frequently collaborates on ESF-related projects for the European Commission.
• COWIcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEngineering and consultancy partner on EU-funded studies including ESF+ impact assessment support.
• PanteiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner on Dutch ESF evaluations, skills development studies, and VET-business cooperation research.
• SEOR (University of Rotterdam)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership for Dutch ESF scheme evaluations and sustainable employability studies.
• EcoryscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on ET2020 working group support, adult learning studies, and European Commission expert network work.
• ICON InstitutcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on ETF qualifications activities evaluations and entrepreneurship learning assessments in ETF partner countries.
• 3s (Research GmbH)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on VET qualifications studies, initial VET qualifications at EQF levels 3 and 4, and ETF qualifications actions evaluations.
• FGB (Forschungsinstitut für Bildungsfragen)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner on European Parliament studies including skills development and employment, social and employment situation reports.
• ApplicaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner on ESF synthesis reports and youth employment evaluations.
• LSE EnterprisecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on VET-business cooperation studies and TVET lecturer education research in Africa.
• British CouncilcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCommissioning partner for VET toolbox monitoring and evaluation framework development, in cooperation with GIZ, LuxDev, and Enabel.
• Plato / UL (University of Leiden)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership on evaluation of pilot equipping BOAs with short baton and cyber security labour market studies.
• ZeroSpace AdviesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on ETF knowledge management innovation evaluation.
• HobeonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Ministry of OCW on NLQF study and evaluation.
• Bertelsmann FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on adult learning and digital environments study.
• ECBO (Expertisecentrum Beroepsonderwijs)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on monitoring and quality of basic skills education for adults in the Netherlands.
• Cambridge EconometricsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on skills systems performance measurement and skill mismatch prioritization studies.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• COWI: Large Danish engineering and management consultancy that has partnered with Ockham IPS on EU-funded ESF+ impact assessment studies, but operates at much larger scale across many sectors.

Direct peers

• SEOR (Erasmus University Rotterdam): Academic research group at Erasmus University Rotterdam partnering with Ockham IPS on Dutch ESF scheme evaluations and sustainable employability studies — overlapping Dutch public-sector client base.
• Ecorys: Dutch research and consulting firm that frequently partners with Ockham IPS on EU policy evaluations, adult learning studies, and ET2020 working group support — a direct competitor in the same niche.
• ICON Institut: German research and consulting firm collaborating with Ockham IPS on ETF qualifications and entrepreneurship learning evaluations — comparable size and EU/international policy focus.
• Panteia: Netherlands-based research firm collaborating with Ockham IPS on Dutch ESF evaluations, skills development, and VET-business cooperation research — overlapping themes and client base.
• Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini: Italian research foundation with long-standing collaboration on EU ESF impact assessments and ex-post evaluations alongside Ockham IPS — comparable size and focus.
• Applica: Belgian research consultancy partnering with Ockham IPS on ESF synthesis reports and youth employment evaluations — directly comparable niche in EU labour-market research.
• Metis GmbH: Austrian research partner collaborating with Ockham IPS on European Social Fund evaluations and labour market studies for the European Commission — closely aligned thematic focus.
• Cambridge Econometrics: UK-based economic modelling consultancy partnering with Ockham IPS on skills systems performance and skill mismatch studies — similar EU policy research focus.
• 3s (Research GmbH): Austrian research firm partnering with Ockham IPS on VET qualifications studies and ETF qualifications actions evaluations — small specialist with directly comparable EU tender portfolio.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ockham IPS