How secure is our municipal data after November 5?
IT for governments
The Netherlands is digitising rapidly and municipalities are moving with it. More and more municipalities are switching completely to the cloud. This can bring advantages, such as ease of use and lower costs. But there are also risks, if only because this way municipalities and ISVs become increasingly dependent on large cloud providers such as Microsoft and Amazon. As a result, a lot of knowledge and control over digital infrastructure can be lost and even digital autonomy can be at risk.
Common Ground
To best facilitate the digital transformation of municipalities, the VNG (Association of Netherlands Municipalities) created the Common Ground programme. It aims to make municipal IT systems more efficient, flexible and secure, and better able to work together. Among other things, the programme sets standards for the way Dutch municipalities use data. In addition, Common Ground includes technical components to simplify data exchange, and software applications to enable efficient data use.
Previder is first Dutch Port-compliant service provider
Haven
An important part of Common Ground is Haven: a platform that ensures municipalities keep control of their data, applications and digital services. With Haven, municipalities build a modern, secure and flexible digital future in which they remain in control. In practice, Haven is a generic layer that fits within a municipality's IT landscape and connects to all Common Ground solutions.
Previder: the first Haven-compliant hoster in the Netherlands
The requirements for Haven compliance are stringent. Previously, hosting for Common Ground applications at foreign hyperscalers, such as Azure (Microsoft) or AWS (Amazon), seemed to be the only option. This often led to frustration among government agencies. Last summer, Previder changed this and showed that Dutch cloud providers can also develop innovative solutions for such complex issues. We are now the first and only Dutch hoster to fully comply with the Haven standards and guarantee that all data across the entire application layer remains on Dutch soil - optimally protected against unauthorised access. In this context, we have also developed a Port-compliant Reference Implementation in cooperation with the VNG. This proves that realising this kind of advanced reference implementation is not only reserved for international hyperscalers.
Founded on Kubernetes expertise
Haven is based on Kubernetes, an open-source tool that helps manage (containerised) applications. Kubernetes makes it easy to install, scale and manage applications on different servers. As a result, they work more efficiently and are more available. At Previder, we have recently invested a lot in our knowledge and skills in this area. With several specialists (“Cubestronauts”) in-house, we have developed our own Kubernetes solution, which is fully automated and compliant with Haven standards (provided, of course, that the Reference Implementation is followed).
The importance of 100% Dutch hosting for ISVs and Common Ground
For ISVs, it is crucial to be able to offer their Common Ground solutions with 100% Dutch hosting options. Municipalities, government agencies and other public organisations in the Netherlands have ever-increasing requirements for data security, data location, and regulatory compliance. With fully Dutch hosting, ISVs can guarantee that all data is stored and managed strictly within Dutch borders. This is essential for both AVG compliance and ensuring that sensitive information is protected from foreign access.
Stay owner of your own data
Previder's Haven-Kubernetes platform is offered on an “as a service” basis. For a fixed monthly fee, we offer a secure, flexible and locally managed cloud infrastructure that you as a municipality or ISV do not have to worry about. We keep data within Dutch borders and work according to open standards. This results in a future-proof solution that exactly matches your current municipal needs. You retain complete ownership of your own data, without worrying about foreign interference.
Would you like to know more?
Would you like to know how Previder can help you as a municipality or ISV to a Port-compliant infrastructure that also provides certainty about the security of your data after 5 November? Feel free to contact us for an enlightening discussion.
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