An explanation for anyone who has not heard of it before.
Within the public sector, digitalisation is now closely intertwined with operational processes. Digital services have also become a prerequisite for interactions between citizens and government, from applying for a passport to submitting a subsidy application or reporting a change of address. To make all of this reliable, secure and user-friendly, central government, provinces, municipalities, water authorities and public service providers have agreed on a single shared course: the Dutch Digitalisation Strategy. Under the slogan “Accelerating together”, the Dutch Digitalisation Strategy was presented on 4 July 2025.
In short: what is the Dutch Digitalisation Strategy?
The Dutch Digitalisation Strategy is an intergovernmental strategy under which all layers of government align on the same digital priorities and steer them jointly. Together with the Dutch Cybersecurity Strategy (NLCS) and the Digital Economy Strategy, the Dutch Digitalisation Strategy forms the foundation of Dutch digital policy.
The objective of the Dutch Digitalisation Strategy is to operate as one government in building a strong, accessible and secure digital foundation for the Netherlands. The Dutch Digitalisation Strategy follows the principle of ‘agree centrally, implement federatively’. Governments implement shared solutions and building blocks, based on central agreements, at their own pace within their organisations.
The Dutch Digitalisation Strategy has parallels with the European Digital Decade. This is EU policy aimed at accelerating Europe’s digital transition by 2030 in the areas of digital skills, infrastructure, business digitalisation and public services. In this way, the Dutch approach is embedded in broader European objectives.
Four guiding principles
Four guiding principles are central to the Dutch Digitalisation Strategy.
- The Netherlands aims to fully leverage the opportunities of digitalisation by continuing to innovate and invest in a strong digital foundation. This is essential for addressing societal challenges such as healthcare, spatial planning and the labour market.
- Strategic autonomy is key, ensuring that critical processes and data remain under control. This also includes a focus on further European cooperation.
- The government is committed to closer cooperation with industry, academia and knowledge institutions to digitally connect the economy and government.
- Where necessary, government processes will be redesigned to enable genuine digital transformation and data-driven working as one government. Digitalisation is therefore not used as a patch for poorly functioning processes.
Six priorities for the digital government
To prevent fragmentation and accelerate digital innovation, the Dutch Digitalisation Strategy identifies six concrete priorities. These priorities are interdependent: progress in one area often depends on steps taken in another.
- Cloud: one shared cloud strategy, including secure and sovereign solutions and a central marketplace for government services.
- Data: a federated data system with shared standards, making data exchange simpler, safer and more consistent.
- AI: responsible use of artificial intelligence to address societal challenges and improve public services.
- Citizens and businesses at the centre: a logical digital entry point for citizens and businesses, designed to be proactive and user-friendly.
- Digital resilience and autonomy: a joint approach to cybersecurity and reduced dependence on a limited number of suppliers.
- Digital professionalism and a modern working environment: investment in skills, teams and tools to work effectively in a digital and data-driven way.
Is the Dutch Digitalisation Strategy politically driven?
The Dutch Digitalisation Strategy has been deliberately developed as a broadly supported and apolitical digital strategy for government, focused on cooperation between public authorities. All indications suggest that the intention is to connect substantively without political positioning. The Dutch Digitalisation Strategy has political backing and was developed within political frameworks at the initiative of the State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitalisation. Its content is designed to be neutral and enjoys broad support.
Next steps for the Dutch Digitalisation Strategy
Despite political developments and the caretaker status of the cabinet, work on the Dutch Digitalisation Strategy continues. All participating authorities have expressed support for the Dutch Digitalisation Strategy. Even after the fall of the cabinet and the change of State Secretary, there is broad willingness to move forward together and to make rapid progress on implementation. The caretaker State Secretary intends to present an investment agenda and implementation programme later this year and emphasises that the Dutch Digitalisation Strategy is largely apolitical.
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