Dutch Central Bank Moves Cloud Services to European Provider Schwartz Digits

The Dutch central bank announced two weeks ago that it would move its essential cloud services to Schwartz Digits, a unit of the Lidl low-cost supermarket group. Schwartz Digits was originally built to support the retail business but has since become a provider of secure data services to European businesses and government organizations.

The decision marks the latest example of European entities choosing local alternatives over U.S. cloud providers Google, Amazon and Microsoft. The Dutch government has also signed its first deals with StackIT, a subsidiary of Schwartz Digits. Other StackIT customers include Commerzbank and the Hamburg Port Authority.

A justice and security minister said the agreement was an important step in reducing dependence on parties outside Europe and strengthening digital resilience. SAP has announced moves to strengthen its European-based digital infrastructure. The trend reflects diverging approaches to digital security between the United States and Europe.

Protections against Chinese providers have long been a priority. The same concern now applies to U.S. providers as Europe seeks greater digital sovereignty in data security and resilience. Under the U.S. Cloud Act passed in 2018, American technology operators can be required to hand over data to U.S. authorities.

The possible risk of a European country's data being demanded by a foreign nation is viewed as too high for sectors including healthcare, government services and banking. The International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, moved its data operations to openDesk, part of the ZenDis Center for Digital Sovereignty backed by the German federal government, after a dispute involving U.S. sanctions.