The central government is vulnerable to acute and prolonged ICT service outages. This is evident from the report 'From vulnerable to resilient' by ABDTOPConsult that was commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK). The central government is therefore taking measures to better safeguard the continuity of crucial digital services. The urgency is high: without intervention, the risks of social disruption in the event of disruptions in ICT systems increase.
The Netherlands is among the leaders in Europe in digitalization. At the same time, this dependence on ICT makes the government vulnerable. Services in the areas of healthcare, security, justice and income provision are highly dependent on external ICT suppliers. Failure of 1 supplier can have far-reaching consequences for society as a whole.
The report concludes that government organizations are insufficiently prepared for acute and long-term outages. Knowledge and direction about ICT risks is fragmented and sometimes inadequate. Fallback options and emergency measures are lacking or insufficiently tested. Geopolitical developments increase the risks of failure. Actions by individual government organizations and the government as a whole are necessary.
State Secretary Van Marum of the Interior and Kingdom Relations: "The lesson is clear: we must not only rely on technology, but also be prepared when technology fails. This report shows that we need to act now. If we really want to make strides, a substantial financial contribution is needed. Among other things, to build government facilities that make the government less vulnerable to ICT risks related to suppliers, geopolitical developments and cyber. This requires joint investment, both public and private. Citizens and businesses must be able to count on reliable digital services from the government."
The researchers make several recommendations to strengthen digital resilience. These will be included in the digital resilience action plan. Actions include:
Setting up a "Competence Center" for IT sourcing.
Explore the possibility of fall-back facilities in emergency situations.
Update the government-wide IT sourcing strategy with explicit risk consideration at its core.
Set up central monitoring for proactive tracking of suppliers and market developments to provide timely intervention in the event of impending acute and prolonged outages of ICT services.
Increasing digital resilience and updating the government-wide IT sourcing strategy and pooling purchasing power are also spearheads in the Dutch Digitalization Strategy that the cabinet launched last month. The plan of action ties in with the National Security Strategy and new legislation in the areas of resilience (Critical Entity Resilience Act) and cyber security (Cybersecurity Act) that will take effect at the end of 2025. With this, the cabinet is committed to a reliable and digitally resilient government.
Download here the report
