Netherlands Abandons Microsoft in Favor of Homegrown Sovereign Software
The Netherlands is joining other European governments in seeking to reduce their reliance on foreign tech vendors, including Microsoft. The country's Digital Autonomous Work Environment for Government Scheme (DAWO) aims to invest more heavily in sovereign software and explore alternative operating systems.
The DAWO scheme covers a broad spectrum of software changes, including cloud infrastructure and productivity software. The biggest migration will involve replacing the Windows operating system with NixOS, developed by Dutch developer Eelco Dolstra and the NixOS Foundation based in the Netherlands. According to Statcounter data, Windows currently accounts for around 63% of global desktops across all users.
The Netherlands is also exploring other European tech vendors, such as France's La Suite and Germany's openDesk, as part of a broader pro-European push. This move reflects concerns about potential US government access to American software users' data amid complex geopolitical happenings.