Germany's sovereign cloud, Finland's zero-touch services, and San Marino's blockchain bet
Edition #110 As Europe's quest for digital sovereignty continues, this week has brought a big shift towards reduced dependence on US cloud infrastructure in Germany and the Netherlands...
In our previous edition, we were thinking about Europe’s options in its move to increase digital sovereignty and autonomy. Given world events over the past couple of weeks, we expect this to be a recurring theme during the coming months, and indeed this week we cover the Dutch parliament’s efforts to reduce US cloud dependency.
But more broadly, we are back to business as usual, covering government AI initiatives in the UK and Ukraine. In addition, we’re also looking at further digital identity maturation in South Korea, zero-touch services in Finland, and San Marino’s attempts to pursue blockchain fame.
Our main stories this week:
New Zealand’s $16bn Excel spreadsheet snafu
Germany’s new government cloud and Dutch efforts to migrate from American cloud systems
New EU investments in AI and Cybersecurity
As a reminder, we have recently begun to expand our digital government coverage away from just Substack and onto Linkedin, Twitter, and Instagram. For original content, audience engagement, and roundups of all our pieces, feel free to follow us over on those channels. Also check out our sister newsletter, interweave.africa.
Health NZ used single spreadsheet to track $28b of public money - Azaria Howell, New Zealand Herald
New Zealand’s public healthcare system, Health NZ, has drawn criticism for using an Excel spreadsheet to track $28bn NZD ($16bn USD) of financial records.
The details about the spreadsheet were revealed in an independent report from the consulting firm Deloitte, which voiced “significant concerns” regarding the practice.
Deloitte cited problems including a limited ability to trace information & changes and a high probability of introducing unintentional human error through typos.
In addition, Deloitte noted that financial reporting took 12-15 days, with another 5 days to analyze data.
Our Take: At interweave, we often focus on solutions that effectively incorporate novel technology, but it’s helpful to remember that many government services are still using today's (or yesteryear's) technology in sub-optimal ways. An example like this is one of the reasons why the co-founder of the UK’s Government Digital Service is calling for the next leader of the NHS to put digital transformation at the front and center of their agenda.
Dutch parliament urges government to move away from US cloud services - Anna Desmarais, Euronews
The Dutch parliament has adopted several motions urging the government to reduce its dependence on US cloud technology, citing concerns around autonomy and cybersecurity risks associated with the US CLOUD Act.
The motions describe Dutch government dependence on US technology as a "threat to the autonomy and cybersecurity" of the country. Experts note the issue has gained a new urgency with Trump's second mandate, since he could potentially invoke the CLOUD Act to access Dutch data or restrict service provisions.
A January audit found that many government ministries have used public clouds hosted by Google, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services without awareness of the potential risks.
The parliament has called for the development of a national cloud under "full Dutch management" to store confidential communications between departments.
Our take: This move by the Netherlands reflects a growing concern for digital sovereignty in Europe, particularly as countries reassess their technological dependencies in light of geopolitical shifts. However, we also learnt this week that the Singaporean government is set to use Meta LLMs to build some of its AI applications, so it is certainly does not look like there will be a global decoupling from American tech.
EU Announces €1.3b Investment in AI, Cybersecurity and Digital Skills Through 2027 - European Commission
As part of its Digital Europe Program for 2025-2027, the EU has announced an investment of €1.3 billion to support artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and digital skills.
This investment represents a significant portion of the program’s total €8.1 billion budget and advances the EU’s existing authentication initiatives, including the ongoing development of its digital identity ecosystem.
A key goal of the investment will be ensuring that new technologies - such as supercomputing and cloud infrastructure - comply with the EU’s AI Act and other digital regulations.
The EU’s AI Act entered into force in August 2023 and its full implementation will be on August 2, 2026.
GovTech News in Brief
South Korea concludes nationwide rollout of digital ID - Lu-hai Liang, Biometric Update
South Korea has finished the rollout of its nationwide ID program, allowing citizens and permanent residents to have a digitally-native ID that is augmented with enhanced encryption for proof of identity in both government and private (e.g., banking) services.
UK chancellor allocates funds to deploy AI in government in Spring Statement - Jack Aldane, Global Government Forum
The UK is dedicating $54 million out of a $4.2 billion “transformation fund” to support the deployment of AI in government. This is intended to support a broader public sector reform to increase government efficiency and effectiveness.
Our take: As COO of the UK Civil Service Cat Little emphasized at the recent Innovation 2025 conference in London, balancing risk and opportunity to capitalize on technology in the civil service will be crucial to achieving UK public sector reforms.
Ukraine develops national AI model for government and business efficiency - Odessa Journal
Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation has announced the development of the country's first national Ukrainian-language large language model (LLM) - set to launch by December 2025 - which will accelerate AI integration into government services, defense, and business without using state funds.
Hungarian innovation could revolutionize digital degrees in the EU - Adam Brader, Hungarian Conservative
Hungary is experimenting with a digital degree verification process powered by blockchain with the hope of eventually rolling it out across the 4,000 higher education institutions in the EU, which currently lacks a comprehensive degree verification service.
Finland pursues ‘zero touch government services’ amidst digital maturity - Si Ying Thian, GovInsider
Finland’s Digital and Population Data Services Agency is championing a “zero touch” approach to digital public service, defined as the government's ability to proactively reduce or even eliminate the need for citizens to engage with government processes to accomplish tasks.
AI seen to advance digital governance, industry, ethics in Laos - Phetphoxay Sengpaseuth, Asia News Network
Laos is advancing its digital transformation through AI integration in government operations and private sectors, with the Ministry of Technology and Communications launching 37 digital government systems and developing a national digital identity system to improve service efficiency.
San Marino pursuing blockchain fame - Henry Vilar, FinTech Futures
San Marino has become the latest European microstate to hop on the blockchain bandwagon after hosting the country’s first Technical Group on the matter, with the intention to eventually develop innovative legislation in the republic.
Germany launches government cloud - Federal Ministry of the Interior
Germany’s digital government services took a big step towards maturation and sovereignty this week with the launch of the “Deutsche Verwaltungscloud” (DVC), Germany’s first government cloud system.
Our Take: As with the Dutch example, by giving Germany complete control over its environment for running digital government services, the cloud will strengthen Germany’s digital sovereignty and provide secure, standardized services for government agencies anywhere in the country.
The Theory Behind the Practice
Agentic AI transforms siloed systems into seamless operations - Ken Ng, GovInsider
Agentic AI is already transforming public sector operations by functioning as a "digital twin" or "nervous system", according to Workato’s Ken Ng. Successful implementation will require a clear strategy, executive sponsorship, and data integration.
Our Take: One of interweave’s authors, Luke, recently moderated a panel with Ken Ng at GovInsider’s Festival of Innovation. See GovInsider’s website for more information.
Code against corruption: How GovTech is reshaping the fight against corruption - Sruti Bandyopadhyay & Juan Pablo Guerrero Amparan, World Bank
The World Bank is leveraging GovTech solutions to combat corruption by implementing digital innovations that enhance transparency and accountability, addressing institutional weaknesses through e-government portals, blockchain, AI monitoring, and other technologies.
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