State Secretary for Digitalization Zsolt Szabó wants to speed up the process of strengthening the government's digital autonomy. In a letter to the House of Representatives, he explains how he is implementing three motions passed on March 13 aimed at reducing dependence on foreign tech companies.
Among other things, the Chamber wants a temporary halt to new migrations of government ICT to U.S. cloud services. Szabó acknowledges the concerns, but stresses that diligence and continuity are paramount. He refers to ongoing policy reviews that focus on risk management, national security and public values. This cloud policy review is expected in mid-2025.
A second motion states that the government's digital infrastructure should no longer depend directly on U.S. parties. Szabó says he endorses that objective and is including it in the tightening of cloud and sourcing policies. He is also working on a so-called "sovereign government cloud" as an alternative to commercial cloud providers.
The third motion - aimed at favoring European ICT companies in tenders - did not receive Szabó's support. According to him, such preferences clash with international trade treaties and government policy on open and fair procurement. However, he does want to encourage open source alternatives wherever possible, including through projects such as DigiD, the EDI Wallet app and international cooperation on "My Office," an open source workplace for civil servants.
Szabó emphasized in his letter that digital autonomy and responsible cloud use remain spearheads within the Dutch Digitalization Strategy.
