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The Standardisation Forum, an independent organisation advising on the obligatory or voluntary adoption of open ICT standards in the Dutch public sector, commissioned a study into standards and standardisation of cloud services. The research, conducted between September 2023 and April 2024, yielded significant conclusions and recommendations.
The study emphasises the need for more direction from the government on standardisation of cloud services, such as interoperability and data portability. This is essential to decrease the dependency of major cloud service providers and to guarantee digital autonomy.
Key conclusions
The research reveals a lack of open standards for data portability and interoperability, which strenghtens the control of cloud providers. This is particularly problematic for complex data, where there are no European standards in place at the moment, resulting in providers applying their own technologies. This enhances the dependency of their services.
Furthermore, the integration of commercial cloud services with proprietary AI makes it increasingly more difficult to adopt open standards, as AI is often used to bind customers to the vendor’s services.
However, cloud providers have expressed a willingness to cooperate if the government establishes clear guidelines for standardisation. This underscores the need for government intervention to reduce vendor dependency and ensure safer and more efficient use of cloud services.
Recommendations for the government
The government should take a more active role over cloud standards by encouraging the development and obligation of open standards at European level. This decreases reliance on large hyperscalers and will promote vendor independence.
Investments should be made in training and fostering collaboration within government organisations to boost internal knowledge about cloud services, decreasing dependence on external expertise. Additionally, clear frameworks for information security and privacy are necessary, aligned with European and international norms for consistency and transparency.
It is crucial to identify and enforce standards for data portability; enabling a smoother data exchange between systems and suppliers. The study shows that mandating the Haven standard for system and application portability will improve interoperability between cloud services and reduce vendor dependency.
These steps are essential for strengthening the digital autonomy of European countries like the Netherlands and ensuring the security and efficiency of cloud services.
The Standardisation Forum
The Netherlands Standardisation Forum facilitates digital cooperation (interoperability) between government organisations and among government, businesses, and citizens. Interoperability ensures that different systems are better aligned and integrated, enabling the exchange and reuse of data. The forum plays a key role in contributing and supporting to e-government goals, such as improving government services and reducing the administrative burden by automating the flow of information between the government, citizens, and enterprises.
These efforts lead to cost savings, increased efficiency, and improved services for citizens, businesses, and public service providers through smart ICT solutions. The use of open standards to support interoperability, data (re)use, and reduce dependency on specific suppliers remains a core focus of Dutch policy.