New vision lays the foundation for an autonomous and sovereign digital government

More and more crucial government tasks are digital: from taxes to healthcare. Our systems are often dependent on a small number of (foreign) suppliers. These dependencies bring risks: outages, cyberattacks, geopolitical pressure. At the same time, citizens and businesses must be able to trust that the digital government always continues to function.

Digital autonomy means that the government can choose which technology we use and that we can switch if a supplier fails or does not meet requirements. The government must also have sufficient knowledge in-house to maintain control over its own ICT systems. It is also important that the government has control over the digital infrastructure that the government itself uses with services and products (digital sovereignty). So that the most sensitive data falls under Dutch or European legislation and public values — such as privacy, security, and democracy — are safeguarded.

State Secretary Van Marum: “It is not about doing everything ourselves, but that we can choose and maintain control ourselves. We must be realistic: full independence does not exist, but smart choices do. The government wants to be open where it can, protect where it must. Citizens and businesses must be able to trust that the digital government always continues to function, even in times of digital threats or international tensions.”

The vision contains strategic building blocks and practical instruments with which this course is translated into action. Some important examples:

• Sharpen cloud policy: secure storage of government data under European law.
• Bundle IT procurement: as one government, enforce better conditions with suppliers.
• Stimulate open standards and open source to prevent lock-ins.
• Accelerate modernization of outdated systems to reduce risks.
• Invest in digital craftsmanship to increase our knowledge and capacity.
• Collaborate within Europe to build safe, reliable European alternatives.

With this vision, the cabinet consciously chooses a course in which open standards, technological innovation, and cooperation within the Netherlands and Europe go hand in hand. The vision, which has been established inter-administratively, connects to the Dutch Digitization Strategy in which digital resilience and autonomy of the government is one of the priorities. This also builds on the Digital Open Strategic Autonomy Agenda.

Internationally, the ambitions in this vision align with the European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (EDIC) Digital Commons. This consortium is formed from a collaboration between France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands and focuses on strengthening European digital autonomy. This EDIC Digital Commons was officially launched on Thursday in The Hague and is chaired by the Netherlands. Currently, 9 EU member states have joined. With this, member states combine forces and jointly develop and scale European solutions and services in the fields of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cybersecurity, office automation, and social networks.