Digital Government Outlook 2026: Netherlands
Table of contents
This country note presents an overview of the digital government landscape in the Netherlands drawing on the results of the 2025 OECD Digital Government Index (DGI) and the 2025 OECD OURdata Index. The note outlines key policy developments in the country observed during the assessment period. It aims to inform policy dialogue and support the Netherlands in advancing a whole-of-government approach to digital transformation in the public sector.
In the 2025 edition of the OECD Digital Government Index, the Netherlands attained a score of 0.65, below the OECD average of 0.70. This represents a 0.09 increase since 2023 (Figure 1).
The Netherlands recorded a higher score in Open by Default (0.60), slightly above the OECD average of 0.59, and matched the OECD average in Digital by Design (0.75). These results show that the Netherlands performs in line with or slightly above the OECD average in promoting openness and integrating digital technologies.
The Netherlands scored below the OECD average in User-Driven (0.56 vs 0.71), Proactiveness (0.64 vs 0.67), Data-driven Public Sector (0.67 vs 0.74) and Government as a Platform (0.68 vs 0.71). This means that the Netherlands still has room for improvement in placing user needs at the centre of service design, leveraging data as a strategic asset, and developing shared platforms for government-wide use.
In the 2025 edition of the OECD OURdata Index, the Netherlands attained a score of 0.49, below the OECD average of 0.53 (Figure 2). This represents a 0.07 increase since 2023.
The Netherlands recorded a higher score in Data accessibility (0.86), well above the OECD average of 0.67. This reflects the country's strong performance in ensuring quality access to data, notably using open formats and standardised metadata.
The Netherlands scored below the OECD average in Data availability (0.51 vs 0.53) and Government support for data re-use (0.11 vs 0.40). This means that the Netherlands has significant room for improvement in broadening the range of available datasets and in developing mechanisms to actively promote data re-use.
The Netherlands has established a digital government governance structure led by the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations under the National Government IT Strategy (I-Strategie Rijk) 2021–2025 and the Value-Driven Digitalisation Work Agenda. Co-ordination is ensured, among others, through the Council of CIOs, the Administrative Council on Digitalisation (ACD), and the government-wide committee on digital government (OBDO).
A comprehensive approach to digital skills development is applied across the public service in the Netherlands. RADIO (Organisation for Development, Digitalisation and Innovation) provides structured digital training for civil servants. This is complemented by the Leer-Rijk portal and SkillsTown Online Academy for on-demand learning, the Mobility Bank for career development, Digicoaches for personalised support, and multidisciplinary Information Management teams (Informatiehuishoudingsteams) deployed to ministries.
AI governance in the Netherlands is supported by a well-developed institutional framework. The Dutch Data Protection Authority hosts a coordinating directorate for AI and algorithm oversight, while day-to-day supervision is carried out by sectoral regulators within their respective domains. Dedicated advisory bodies, such as the Ministry of Finance's ethics committee and the UWV's Committee on Data Ethics (Commissie Data Ethiek), provide ethical guidance. The Rijks ICT Gilde offers free Fundamental Rights and Algorithm Impact Assessment (FRAIA) pilots.
While the Netherlands performs well in value proposition methodology and GovTech collaboration, broader components of its digital investment framework could be strengthened into the Rijks ICT-dashboard. Ex-post cost-benefit analysis, a common impact evaluation methodology, a standardised approval system, and a standardised project management model are not yet in place. Developing these capabilities could enhance oversight across the investment lifecycle.
The Netherlands has established key building blocks for user-centred services, but opportunities remain to strengthen the broader framework. In particular, digital impact consultations and standardised transaction cost measurement are not yet reported. Developing these capabilities could further support evidence-based service improvement.
The OECD Digital Government Outlook (DGO) provides a comprehensive assessment of digital government policies across OECD Members and accession candidate countries. It draws on the results of the 2025 OECD Digital Government Index (DGI) and the 2025 OECD Open, Useful and Re-usable Data (OURdata) Index to evaluate progress and identify persistent gaps in digital transformation across the public sector.
The DGI assesses the enabling foundations for digital transformation across six dimensions: Digital by Design, Data-driven Public Sector, Government as a Platform, Open by Default, User-Driven and Proactiveness. Rather than measuring the digitalisation of specific services, the DGI focuses on the strategies, policy levers, implementation practices and monitoring mechanisms that enable coherent, whole-of-government digital transformation.
The OURdata Index benchmarks the robustness of open government data policies across three pillars: data availability, data accessibility and government support for data re-use. It supports policymakers in monitoring the design and implementation of national open government data policies.
Both indices were developed with OECD Member countries through the OECD Working Party of Senior Digital Government Officials (E-Leaders) and approved by the OECD Public Governance Committee.
Figure 1: The 2025 DGI OECD average does not include Germany and the United States. 2025 data cover the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2024. The 2023 OECD average does not include Germany, Greece, Slovakia, Switzerland and the United States. 2023 data cover the period from 1 January 2021 to 31 October 2022. The composite score is the unweighted average of the six-dimension scores.
Figure 2: The 2025 and 2023 OURdata Index OECD average does not include Denmark, Hungary and the United States. 2025 data cover the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2024. 2023 data cover the period from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2021. The composite score is the unweighted average of the three-pillar scores.
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The full book is available in English: OECD (2026), Digital Government Outlook 2026: From Foundations to Transformational Impact, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/0496b2bc-en.
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