Dutch government working on its own secure cloud environment
The Dutch government is currently in the process of designing its own sovereign cloud environment. This project is intended to ensure that the government becomes less dependent on large international tech companies and gains more control over the storage of sensitive government information.
The plan is to build a cloud network that runs on data centers under its own management. By managing this infrastructure itself, the government aims to better guarantee the security and privacy of citizen data. This is an important step in the Netherlands' digital strategy to strengthen digital sovereignty.
Currently, the government still uses foreign cloud providers for many digital services. Critics and experts have long warned that this entails risks, such as the potential for foreign governments to access data. With its own cloud environment, The Hague aims to significantly reduce this dependency in the future.
The design for the new cloud is still in a preparatory phase. The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations is working on the technical details and legal frameworks. It is not yet known when the new infrastructure will be fully operational, but the project is considered a priority for the coming years.
With this initiative, the Netherlands is following the example of other European countries that are also working on their own digital infrastructures. The goal is to create a secure and reliable digital environment for both civil servants and citizens, ensuring that control over data remains firmly in Dutch hands.