Digitale autonomie - Bert Hubert's writings
a day ago
- Digital autonomy in the Netherlands is eroding due to heavy reliance on American Big Tech, exemplified by government email migration to Microsoft and inability to adjust tax systems.
- Autonomy has three key aspects: agility (control over systems to make policy changes), confidentiality (secure communication without foreign surveillance), and resilience (ability to repair and maintain infrastructure locally).
- Citizens and politicians show little concern for privacy and autonomy, preferring convenience over control, which allows Big Tech to dominate.
- Current trends predict 98% of government email will be hosted by US corporations by 2026, with no alternative plan B in place.
- A proposed solution is a government-owned communication cloud (Rijkscommunicatie Cloud), built and run by Dutch civil servants, offering secure email, chat, and file sharing for public institutions.
- Investing in local expertise, open-source alternatives, and cultural support for smaller platforms is crucial to regain digital autonomy.