News item | 12-09-2025 | 15:00
The central government is vulnerable to acute and long-term failure of IT services. This is evident from the report ‘From vulnerable to resilient’ by Abdtopconsult that was commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK). The central government therefore takes measures to better guarantee the continuity of crucial digital services. The urgency is high: without intervention, the risks of social dislocations in disruptions in IT systems increase.
Digital dependence
The Netherlands is one of the leaders in Europe in the field of digitization. At the same time, this dependence on ICT makes the government vulnerable. Services in the field of care, safety, case law and income provision are highly dependent on external IT suppliers. Failure of 1 supplier can have far -reaching consequences for society as a whole.
Vulnerability
The report concludes that government organizations are insufficiently prepared for acute and long -term failure. Knowledge and direction on IT risks is fragmented and sometimes insufficient. Return options and emergency measures are missing or have not been sufficiently tested. Geopolitical developments increase the risks of failure. Actions of the individual government organizations and the government as a whole are necessary.
State Secretary for Marum of the Interior and Kingdom Relations: “The lesson is clear: we must not only rely on technology, but also be prepared if technology fails. This report shows that we must take action now. If we really want to take steps, a substantial financial contribution is needed. Among other things to build government facilities with the government, totally making consist of consistent devotion to the consistent devotion to the consistent devotion to the cons according to the cons according to the cons according to the cons according to the cons according to the cons according to the cons according to the cons according to the relevant to the cons according to the relevant to the relevant to the cons according to the relevant to subtitual tendues. And Cyber.
From report to action
The researchers make different recommendations to strengthen digital resilience. These are included in the action plan for digital resilience. Actions include:
- Setting up a ‘Competence Center’ for IT sourcing.
- Investigate the possibility of relapse facilities in emergency situations.
- Updating the government-wide IT sourcing strategy where an explicit risk assessment is central.
- Setting up central monitoring for proactively following suppliers and market developments to be able to intervene in time in the event of imminent and long-term outages of IT services.
Coherence
Increasing the digital resilience and updating the government-wide IT sourcing strategy and bundling purchasing power are also spearheads in the Dutch digitization strategy that the government launched last month. The action plan is in line with the national security strategy and new legislation in the field of resilience (Weather Critical Entities Act) and cyber safety (Cyber Security Act) that will start at the end of 2025. The government is focusing on a reliable and digital resilient government.