NDS - 3 interventions Digital Government

Alongside its 6 priorities, the Netherlands Digitalisation Strategy (NDS) includes 3 targeted interventions. These are specific actions aimed at removing barriers that could hinder the NDS’s success. Through these interventions, the national government, provinces, municipalities, water authorities, and public service providers aim to accelerate the changes needed to achieve the NDS priorities.

Intervention Standards, Collective Solutions, and Building Blocks Approach

• We are adopting a more robust strategy for establishing, implementing, and enforcing (digital) standards, including supporting their adoption. Standards mandated by (European) law must be adopted by all government organisations. We help these agencies implement these standards, highlight best practices, ensure transparency in compliance, and facilitate discussions when standards are not met. Compliance is now mandatory, although the speed of adoption may vary.
• Furthermore, we will require the use of particular collective solutions and building blocks to prevent duplicated efforts. We support their implementation to ensure they are actively used. This approach goes beyond voluntary adoption, with the government functioning as 1 cohesive entity under a common architecture to promote recognisable and reusable solutions. Exemptions might be granted when other priorities, such as national security or defence, take precedence.

Intervention IT Sourcing & Bundling Procurement Power

• We are developing a government-wide IT sourcing strategy and consolidating our procurement capability. This allows us to make risk-based, responsible, and standardised decisions on what we purchase and who we contract with. By doing so, we improve the continuity of IT services, strengthen strategic autonomy, enhance resilience, and promote the efficient use of IT services.

Intervention Legislation

• We collaborate to enforce digital legislation and resolve legal obstacles. Numerous sector-specific laws govern public-sector data management, and organisations need to rapidly comply with (European) regulations. This requires clarity, expertise, and shared legal knowledge. Our approach supports the EU’s ‘Competitiveness Compass’, which emphasises the simplification of legislation.