Amsterdam picks KPN for a €74M private cloud
The City of Amsterdam wants to be less dependent on Big Tech, and is awarding its new private cloud contract — worth around €74 million — to KPN, aimed at building a sovereign cloud environment for municipal services.
Last year, the city chose Solvinity for the same reason. A month later, that company was nearly acquired by US-based Kyndryl — a scenario Amsterdam said it was "unpleasantly surprised" by. The Dutch cabinet ultimately blocked that takeover last month.
Ownership as a selection criterion
"This time we looked more closely at the ownership of the company," alderman Scholtes told Dutch newspaper FD. He notes that KPN falls under the law that protects telecom operators from unwanted takeovers — a form of protected ownership.
Why this matters: A European headquarters alone is no guarantee. Only when control is also legally protected does a supplier become resilient against being acquired by a US or other non-European party.
A signal to The Hague
Scholtes says he would like more (legal) tools to assess suppliers on whether ultimate control sits inside or outside Europe. We'd add: also on whether that control is protected, so it stays in Europe.
The national government should take the lead. Make protected ownership part of digital sovereignty strategy and policy, and give it a place in the Dutch national digital strategy.
