Netherlands digital sovereignty and open-source transition

The Netherlands is transitioning its public administration toward a digital autonomous working environment, known as DAWO (Digitaal Autonome Werkomgeving Overheid), to increase digital sovereignty and reduce reliance on American technology companies.

Initially, the Netherlands Tax and Customs Administration, the Benefits Agency, and Dutch Customs canceled plans to migrate to Microsoft 365 cloud services. This reversal followed a review by the Adviescollege ICT-toetsing, which cited concerns regarding vendor lock-in, the lack of a workable exit strategy, and insufficient data control due to the absence of Double Key Encryption. The agency plans to move email and calendars to on-premises servers by 2027, with storage and collaboration services following through 2028.

To implement this sovereign workspace, the government has selected the Linux distribution NixOS for its operating system. The initiative utilizes a modular suite of open-source tools, including Nextcloud for file management, Collabora for office tasks, Element for communication, and OpenProject for project management. Implementation is being managed by three state IT service providers: SSC-ICT, DICTU, and DUO-ICT.