With the inception of the former cabinet on 10 January 2022 as well as in the following cabinet which will be incepted in July 2024, a Minister for Digitalisation has been appointed. Digital policies, however, are carried out in various departments revolving around the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK), the Ministry of Justice and Security (J&V) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK). Sectoral ministers are responsible for ICT in their domains.

Zsolt Szabó State Secretary for Digitalisation   Contact details: Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations Turfmarkt 147, The Hague  Postbus 20011, 2500 EA The Hague Source: https://www.government.nl/

Hillie Beentjes Deputy Director General Government Organizations Director for Digital Society   Contact details: Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations Turfmarkt 147, The Hague  Postbus 20011, 2500 EA The Hague Source: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/

Mark Vermeer Director for Digital Government   Contact details: Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations Turfmarkt 147, The Hague  Postbus 20011, 2500 EA The Hague Source: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/

Bert Voorbraak General Director of Logius   Contact details: Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations Turfmarkt 147, The Hague  Postbus 20011, 2500 EA The Hague Source: https://www.logius.nl/

Since 2022, government bodies and service providers with public duties have been collaborating under the Long-Term Programme for Digital Government Infrastructure (MIDO). This initiative aims to modernise the Generic Digital Infrastructure (GDI), working together as a unified government.

Reliable, accessible, and secure

The government is committed to ensuring that public digital services are reliable, accessible, and secure. The GDI stands at its core, providing basic digital provisions, standards, and products such as DigiD and MijnOverheid. The GDI is the foundation for public services to citizens and businesses and facilitates cooperation among government bodies and public organisations.

Modernising the GDI

In the coming years, the government plans to modernise the GDI. Since January 2022, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) has taken charge of this interdepartmental initiative. This joint approach focuses on the continued development of the GDI’s building blocks. Key considerations include the capabilities required of the GDI, the resources needed to achieve these, compliance with national and international laws and regulations, and the need for an intergovernmental approach.

MIDO as a governance model

For this reason, MIDO was established. This programme unites governments and public service providers. Its core components are:

• The MIDO framework: Principles and agreements for the governance and funding of the GDI, and how organisations collaborate on the GDI.
• The GDI multi-year vision: Outlines the intended development of the GDI over 5 years.
• The GDI programming plan: An overview of all activities scheduled for the coming year, including operation, management, and development of the GDI, along with the budget.

The Government ICT Unit (ICTU) is an independent consultancy and provides organisation services to the government. The objective of the ICTU is to support the government with the development, introduction and implementation of innovative ICT applications (mainly government wide solutions). The ICTU is a non-profit organisation which executes programmes under commission (mostly commissioned by the central government). The ICTU also conducts the day-to-day management of NORA and is responsible for further development on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.

Logius is an agency of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. It manages government-wide ICT solutions and common standards. Logius supplies products relating to access, data exchange, standardisation and information security. Examples include the DigiD authentication service, the Dutch government PKI and Digi network. Logius also hosts the Secretariat of the Standardisation Forum, which provides administrative supports for the Netherlands Standardisation Forum. 

The Netherlands Standardisation Forum (Forum Standaardisatie) supports the Dutch government in the use and adoption of open standards, such as internet security and electronic exchange ones. In addition, it monitors the use of open standards in the public sector. The results are annually submitted to the Parliament.

The Standardisation Forum promotes interoperability, not only within the government system itself, but also in relations between government agencies on the one hand and citizens and businesses on the other. The Standardisation Forum reports to the Intergovernmental Consultative Body on Digital Government (OBDO).

Additionally, the Standardisation Forum fosters cross-border interoperability with its motto “Exchange of information does not stop at the border”, making direct references to the European Multi-Stakeholder Platform on ICT. 

The Data Protection Authority (DPA) supervises compliance with acts that regulate the use of personal data. As such, it oversees the compliance with and application of the Personal Data Protection Act, the Data Protection [Police Files] Act and the Personal Records Base Registry and BRP Law.

The Association of Netherlands Municipalities (Vereniging van Nederlandse Gemeenten, VNG) develops the digital agenda for municipalities to steer the digitalisation in municipalities.  

The VNG developed the Value-based Information Society: Digital Agenda for Municipalities 2024 in 2020, an agenda with three focus areas: enabling, leveraging the potential, and interpreting/reflecting. The 2024 agenda builds further on the Digital Agenda 2020. The accomplishment of the agenda is the responsibility of the VNG-committee on Information Society, consisting of mayors and aldermen from municipalities. Moreover, VNG Realisatie is responsible for the development and management of municipal eGovernment standards. It acts as a partner of municipalities on information management. 

At the regional level, coordination is organised by the Association of the Provinces of the Netherlands (Interprovinciaal Overleg, IPO) and the Waterschapshuis, an organisation that supports IT collaboration between different water authorities in the Netherlands.