The Council of Ministers has approved the new Vision on Digital Autonomy and Sovereignty of the Government, as proposed by State Secretary Van Marum of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. This vision outlines how the Dutch government will maintain control over digitization at a time when digital dependencies are rapidly increasing.
More and more crucial government tasks are digital: from taxes to healthcare. Our systems are now often dependent on a small number of (foreign) suppliers. These dependencies entail risks: outages, cyberattacks, geopolitical pressure. At the same time, citizens and businesses must be able to rely on the digitale overheid to continue functioning digitale overheid .
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 in-house expertise to maintain control over its own ICT systems. It is also important that the government has control over the digital infrastructure that it uses for its own services and products (digital sovereignty). This ensures that the most sensitive data is subject to Dutch or European legislation and that public values โ such as privacy, security, and democracy โ remain safeguarded.
State Secretary Van Marum: "It's not about doing everything ourselves, but about being able to choose and maintain control. We have to be realistic: complete independence does not exist, but making smart choices does. The government wants to be open where possible and protective where necessary. Citizens and businesses must be able to rely on the digitale overheid to continue functioning digitale overheid , even in times of digital threats or international tensions."
The vision contains strategic building blocks and practical tools that translate this course of action into practice. Some important examples:
With this vision, the cabinet has consciously chosen a course in which open standards, technological innovation, and cooperation within the Netherlands and Europe go hand in hand. The vision, which was developed through intergovernmental consultation, is in line with the Dutch Digitization Strategy, in which digital resilience and autonomy of the government is one of the priorities. It also builds on the Digital Open Strategic Autonomy Agenda.
Internationally, the ambitions in this vision are in line with the European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (EDIC) Digital Commons. This consortium was formed through a collaboration between France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands and focuses on strengthening European digital autonomy. The EDIC Digital Commons was officially launched on Thursday in The Hague and is chaired by the Netherlands. Nine EU member states have now joined. This allows member states to join forces and jointly develop and scale up European solutions and services in the fields of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cybersecurity, office automation, and social networks.
