Amsterdam, as well as the Netherlands and Europe, must become more digitally independent. Residents of Amsterdam rely daily on digital services from large foreign tech companies, for example, for navigation, online payments, or finding suitable healthcare. However, dependence on American companies also brings serious risks and uncertainties. Therefore, we are taking measures.
We are investigating how we can take steps towards greater digital independence. We want to be able to make our own choices to ensure privacy, online security, and service delivery to Amsterdam residents.
Change of Course
Alderman Alexander Scholtes (ICT and Digital City): “Whether it concerns the privacy of Amsterdam residents or national security: we can no longer afford to be largely dependent on a few large American tech companies. There must be a plan B to prevent the American government or Big Tech from determining everything for us. We have not achieved this easily, but in Amsterdam we are keen to take a step towards greater digital independence. This requires a change of course in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Europe.”
Investing in Digital Independence
Municipalities that do not invest in their own technology, open standards, and strong cybersecurity risk becoming dependent and vulnerable. Therefore, we are working on our digital independence. It is an important topic throughout the Netherlands and Europe. We are closely collaborating with the national government and other municipalities.
Measures
Amsterdam is already taking the following measures to strengthen digital independence:
- Digital independence as the new norm in procurement: In upcoming tenders for digital services, we will include digital independence as a requirement. For example, when we want to conclude new contracts for the storage of our data and the servers on which our data is stored.
- Control over own data: The data of Amsterdam residents remains the property of the municipality. We do not share it with tech companies lightly. We only store strictly necessary data, for example, when applying for benefits or municipal services. We will now investigate whether we can store more data within our own systems, instead of in the current Public Cloud. This way, we are less dependent on large players and can switch software more easily.
- Use of open software: We are testing other, secure software that allows you to check whether programs do not collect personal data. Think of programs for email, word processing, and spreadsheets. This may mean that civil servants will switch to software that is less dependent on commercial and/or American companies in the future.
- Social media strategy: Together with social partners, we are investigating how we can reduce dependence on social media platforms and whether we can deploy alternatives to still reach all Amsterdam residents.
Digital City Agenda
The exploration Amsterdam Digitally Independent fits within the Digital City Agenda. It outlines how we are working towards a digital city that is human, reliable, and future-proof.