Open Cloud Alliance offers government a sovereign Cloud solution

From dependency to sovereignty

The Netherlands is highly dependent on non-European cloud providers. This dependency carries real risks: our national information infrastructure can be used as a geopolitical lever. Moreover, hundreds of millions of euros in ICT expenditure leave our country annually. The Open Cloud Alliance offers a concrete alternative: cloud platforms under Dutch and European jurisdiction, based on open standards, open-source software, and open architecture.

It can be done — and fast

The technology and capacity are already in place. Together, the alliance partners have numerous modern, scalable data centres spread across the Netherlands. This provides immediately deployable capacity and enhanced resilience against cyber-attacks, disruptions, and grid congestion. The first migrations of applications and data to sovereign platforms can be realised as early as 2026.

An extended hand

The Alliance members reach out to the government. Government data centres are invited to join this initiative. By sharing knowledge and manpower, results can be achieved quickly. At the same time, the government invests in the national and European IT sector, which becomes stronger as a result; one of the recommendations from the Draghi report.

What the Alliance asks of the government

• To strategically deploy the government’s purchasing power to strengthen the Dutch and European IT sector, by applying sovereignty as a key criterion.
• To impose stringent requirements for safeguarding privacy and information security when procuring new services.
• To adhere to the application of open standards when procuring services, enabling collaboration between and switching of suppliers.
• To pursue public-private partnerships.
• To begin transferring critical applications and data to sovereign Dutch and European cloud providers.