Netherlands

The Netherlands scores 5.37 — but the headline is paradoxical. The Netherlands has the highest per-capita developer density in the EU (5.59 → DR_DEV_ECO 10.0) AND one of the lowest private-sector hosting ratings (.nl raw 0.39, third-lowest in EU27 after Ireland and Malta). Public Sector Health is also weak (3.89). The Netherlands is the EU's Anglo-American business infrastructure hub — AWS, Microsoft, and Google all have huge Schiphol-area datacenter footprints, and Dutch corporates host there.

Strengths

• Highest per-capita developer density in the EU — 5.59 per-capita index. The Netherlands has a remarkably dense developer population.
• Linux desktop share of 5.06% — above the EU27 mean, fourth-highest in the union.

Weaknesses

• Third-lowest private-sector hosting — .nl raw rating 0.39. Dutch businesses are massively concentrated on AWS Schiphol, Azure Amsterdam, and Google Belgium.
• Public Sector Health at 3.89 — well below the EU27 median. Dutch government domains run heavily on US-controlled CDN infrastructure.

Outlook

The Netherlands is the EU's clearest example of a digital-sovereignty paradox: world-class developer pool, world-leading hosting infrastructure ownership concentration outside the EU. The country has the talent to host its own businesses; it doesn't. This is a policy lever, not a structural one.

Historical context

2020 baseline

In 2020, the Netherlands was a "solid contender," with a balanced and mature approach across both strategic autonomy and open source policy.

2024 progression

The Netherlands has made significant strides in formalizing its OSS strategy. It is actively pursuing an "open unless" policy, mandating the sharing of source code. A key development is the creation of a national Open Source Programme Office (OSPO) to implement this policy.

Historischer Verweis

OSOR-Datenblatt (PDF, 2024) — der länderbezogene Open-Source-Politikbericht, der in der zurückgezogenen Säule „Öffentliche Politik“ von EDRIX 1.0 verwendet wurde.