News item | 18-11-2025 | 09:56
The Netherlands faces a crucial choice: invest in digitalization or run the risk that the government will not keep up with global technological and geopolitical developments. According to an initial estimate, at least € 1 billion extra will be needed annually until 2030 to protect and strengthen the digital base of the Netherlands. State Secretary Eddie van Marum wrote this in a letter to the House of Representatives.
Urgency
Digital systems form the invisible backbone of our society and are a prerequisite for a strong government, a resilient Netherlands and an economy that is future-proof. To take advantage of opportunities, the Dutch Digitalization Strategy was launched in July 2025. This is the first government-wide strategy to break through fragmentation in IT policy and accelerate our digital tasks. Without structural investments, we run the risk that services will stagnate, vulnerability to cyber attacks will grow and the Netherlands will lose its competitive position.
Eddie van Marum, State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations, responsible for digitization: “We don’t talk about it much, but if critical computer systems fail, everything comes to a standstill. Digitization is not a choice, but a necessity. If the next government really wants to take steps, at least an additional € 1 billion is needed annually for digitization. These additional investments are necessary in the coming years not only to provide good services to citizens and entrepreneurs and to increase our resilience and security, but also to ensure that the Netherlands continues to run and our data is protected. If we don’t act now, we will pay the price later – in money, time and trust.”
In the letter to the House, Van Marum provides an initial insight into the scale of the required investments with a state of affairs document. The document was drawn up in collaboration with other departments, local authorities and the public service provider network (NPD).
A detailed investment agenda will follow in the 2nd quarter of 2026, detailing how much money is needed for what to accelerate.
About the Dutch Digitalization Strategy (NDS)
The government launched the Dutch Digitalization Strategy (NDS) last July. This strategy is a joint plan by municipalities, provinces, water boards, public service providers and the government to strengthen the digital basis of our country. The NDS emphasizes 6 priorities on which all government organizations are accelerating together as one government, including cloud, artificial intelligence and digital resilience and digital autonomy.