Dutch Digital Coalition Plans: Will They Actually Happen?

The Dutch coalition agreement contains some ambitious digital plans that have generated both excitement and skepticism. While the document outlines a potential revolution in government ICT with central coordination, mandatory standards, and a push for digital autonomy, the reality of implementation faces significant challenges.

The Ambitious Plans

The coalition agreement proposes several transformative changes:

• A centralized approach to government ICT with central procurement and mandatory standards
• A "Dutch Digital Service" with "determination power" to drive change
• Moving away from American cloud providers as a core principle
• National stress tests to assess dependency on US clouds
• Better cybersecurity governance with central oversight

These are genuinely ambitious goals that would represent a fundamental shift in how the Dutch government approaches digital services and infrastructure.

The Cultural Challenge

However, there's a massive cultural obstacle. The current ICT workforce across government, including employees, contractors, consultants, and advisors, is deeply embedded in the American big-tech ecosystem. For decades, local autonomy was the norm, and many value that independence. The ICT culture around Dutch government is thoroughly marinated in American big-tech solutions and shows little appetite for change.

The Leadership Question

Complicating matters further, the digital portfolio has been split between two ministries:

• Economic Affairs (EZ): Willemijn Aerdts as State Secretary for Digital Economy & Sovereignty
• Interior Affairs (BZK): Eric van der Burg as State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Efficient Government

These ministries have historically held very different views on technology and ICT, which has led to uncomfortable situations in the past. Adding to the complexity, current Minister of Economic Affairs Vincent Karremans has shown strong enthusiasm for AI and may seek a role in digital infrastructure as the incoming Minister of Infrastructure & Water Management.

The Bubble Problem

There exists a bubble within and around Dutch government of ICT workers, ministers, and former entrepreneurs who are completely immersed in "big tech" thinking. It's extremely difficult to get these people to consider alternatives. Many believe nothing exists outside of big tech solutions. The salary structures and organizational culture have prevented government from building its own expertise, leading to decades of reliance on external consultants whose interests don't align with European digital autonomy or sovereignty.

Recent Troubling Signs

Recent developments have raised serious concerns about the commitment to these ambitious plans:

• The much-touted Dutch Digitalization Strategy (NDS) has gone completely unmentioned in the coalition agreement
• Documents revealed that a club dominated by American vendors (NL Digital) was proposed to help move away from American vendors
• The "Strategic Supplier Management Microsoft Kingdom" (SLM Kingdom) published an article claiming there are virtually no risks to outsourcing ICT to Microsoft/America, despite the Netherlands being absurdly dependent on increasingly unreliable American services for security and society

The Path Forward

The success of these digital sovereignty plans hinges on creating a truly powerful and independently operating Digital Service with the promised determination power to break free from unacceptable dependencies. This change must come from the top, as there are enough senior leaders within and around government who could drive meaningful change.

The alternative is allowing the current system to continue, with our dependence on America growing further. New migrations of critical systems to Microsoft Azure have already been announced, and there's hope that the constituent assembly will prevent these from happening.

The question remains: will the coalition's ambitious digital plans translate into real action, or will they be undermined by the deeply entrenched big-tech culture and unclear implementation structures?