Dutch government working on its own secure cloud environment
The Dutch government has begun designing its own sovereign cloud environment. This means that in the future, the government wants to be less dependent on large international tech companies for storing sensitive information. The goal is to gain more control over the data of citizens and government agencies.
Currently, the government uses servers from foreign commercial parties for many digital services. This raises questions about the privacy and security of data. With its own cloud, the government wants to guarantee that all data remains within Dutch borders and complies with strict European privacy legislation.
The plan is to use data centers that are owned by the government itself or managed by the government. This will allow important government institutions, such as the Tax and Customs Administration or municipalities, to communicate with each other in a more secure way. The system should also be more resistant to external cyberattacks.
The project is currently in the design phase. Experts and policymakers are investigating how the infrastructure should be technically organized. It is not yet known when the new cloud environment will be fully operational, but the initiative marks an important step in the digital independence of the Netherlands.