Digital Independence Move from the Netherlands: DAWO Project

According to the analysis on the Netherlands-based technology news site Tweakers, the "Public Digital Autonomous Work Environment", known as DAWO in its Dutch abbreviation, is built on the Linux distribution NixOS developed in the Netherlands.

In addition to the operating system, the project also includes office software, collaboration applications, cloud services and management tools used by IT units.

The first pilot applications of the system are ongoing in closed circuit and on a small scale in some public institutions in the Netherlands.

SANCTIONS AGAINST ICC WERE A TURNING POINT

In the analysis in Tweakers, it was stated that the DAWO project emerged when concerns about technological addiction increased with the US administration's decision to impose sanctions on the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) at the beginning of 2025, and experts realized that when the first restrictions on the ICC came into force, the Dutch government realized that access to many basic services depended on the policies of the US administration.

In the analysis, it was stated that cost concerns are now insignificant in the face of the risk of external dependency, and that the pilot studies of the project, which has accelerated since July, have started in 8 municipalities and that the first version is planned to be fully put into use in 2027.

DEPENDENCE ON NON-EUROPEAN TECHNOLOGIES PRESENTS THE RISK OF SPYING AND FOREIGN INTERVENTION

On the page describing the DAWO project on the official website of the Dutch government, it is stated that the project, developed within the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Kingdom Relations, aims to create a digitally autonomous and interoperable infrastructure for public working environments.

The aims of the project include strengthening the digital independence of the Netherlands, improving cooperation and information sharing between public institutions and society, and ensuring security and data protection. The project also aims to promote innovation and more efficient business processes and increase the auditability of public computing systems.

The page states that the Dutch state is heavily dependent on non-European technologies. It is emphasized that this dependence makes the state vulnerable to risks such as external disruption of critical systems, loss of control over public data, loss of knowledge to manage systems on its own, espionage and loss of strategic autonomy in the field of information technologies.