The Dutch government has launched the DAWO project to develop an independent digital workspace for public authorities. The initiative, which officially began in July 2026, aims to build a sovereign ecosystem based on open-source software, including cloud infrastructure, AI services, and collaboration tools.
The core of the new environment will be the NixOS operating system, which uses a declarative configuration approach. This allows for easier system replication and management across diverse government hardware. The project is overseen by the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.
Development is currently in the pilot phase across eight municipalities, with over 340 total in the country. The project involves collaboration with other EU initiatives like France's La Suite and Germany's openDesk. A stable version of the platform is expected to be ready by 2027.
This move aligns with broader European efforts to reduce reliance on foreign technology providers. Similar transitions are underway in Germany, Denmark, and Switzerland, where government agencies are increasingly adopting open-source alternatives to replace Microsoft products.
