This article is part of a series on (European) innovation and capabilities. In a break from the usual GPS/Galileo, DNA and C++ posts, here is a bit on 5G and national security. It turns out that through PowerDNS and its parent company Open-Xchange, we know a lot about how large scale European communication service providers work - most of whom are our customers in some way. In addition, in a previous life I worked in national security and because of that I have relevant knowledge of how gover...| Bert Hubert's writings
De hele korte versie: stilletjes maar in hoog tempo verhuizen cruciale ICT-diensten binnen de Nederlandse overheid naar met name Microsoft-servers onder Amerikaans recht. Dit neemt zulke enorme vormen aan dat de ICT-kennis binnen de Nederlandse overheid, maar ook binnen Nederland zelf, snel afkalft. Ook is deze beweging dodelijk voor onze eigen Europese industrie, waardoor we straks echt geheel hulpeloos zijn. De overheid mag volgens eigen beleid weloverwogen naar de cloud verhuizen.| Bert Hubert's writings
There’s now also an English version of this post. De hele korte versie: organisaties twijfelen vaak vele jaren over het uitbesteden van dingen, met name ICT. Gedurende die jaren vertrekken de goede ICT-mensen, want steeds je eigen bestaan moeten rechtvaardigen is rot. Op termijn gaat er dan weleens iets goed mis, en is de keuze daarna makkelijk: we kunnen en willen dit niet meer zelf doen. Maar door jaren te twijfelen heb je het daar zelf naar gemaakt.| Bert Hubert's writings
This article is part of a series on (European) innovation and capabilities. Feedback is very welcome on bert@hubertnet.nl. I’d also like to thank the many proofreaders, but all mistakes remain mine! In the world of (high) technology, Europe is exceptionally weak at innovating. There are many ways to explain how this came to be, and a lot of the discussion focuses on unfair business conditions and regulation. In this post however I want to talk about important cultural and social reasons tha...| Bert Hubert's writings
This article is part of a series on (European) innovation and capabilities. Europe’s communication needs are currently almost exclusively delivered by Chinese hardware that connects us to US-based platforms. For a variety of reasons, this is not a good idea. As stated recently by Charles Michel, President of the European Council, “Interdependence is natural, even desirable. Over-dependence, however, is not”. Photo by Sara Kurfeß on Unsplash At the core, the problem is that almost no co...| Bert Hubert's writings
This article is part of a series on (European) innovation and capabilities. Recently I participated in a very useful panel that aimed to demystify European digital sovereignty. Even though we spoke for more than an hour (video), we obviously were not able to fix all of Europe’s sovereignty problems! The event was organized by Scaleway (previously Online SAS or Online.net), a 100% subsidiary of what I think is Europe’s most innovative telecommunications company, Iliad.| Bert Hubert's writings
This article is part of a series on (European) innovation and capabilities. Earlier this year I was very happy to be interviewed by Thomas Ramge for Germany’s Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIND). Many podcasts are just two guys talking to each other, but here Thomas brought along a lot of expertise & spent serious time preparing, which contributed hugely to having a productive conversation. Even if it is still two guys!| Bert Hubert's writings
Over the past few years I’ve been writing a lot about innovation, and specifically, the lack thereof in Europe. I also touch on how we’ve outsourced a ton of operational capabilities, leaving us relatively helpless. By now this is such a huge amount of words, audio and video that it is in dire need of a summary, if only to see if it makes any kind of sense taken together.| Bert Hubert's writings