Since Donald Trump's inauguration, concern has been growing about the dependence of European institutions on US technology companies. This is also the case at Radboud University, which runs on the Microsoft365 cloud service.

Is Radboud University too digitally dependent on large US companies like Microsoft365?

Students and staff think it is, according to a recent analysis of the participation meetings on international collaboration. They wonder whether collaboration with – and dependence on – BigTech is justified. In recent weeks, the editors of Vox have also received several worrying reports on the subject.

These concerns have been around for some time, but they seem to have intensified since Donald Trump returned to power in the United States. After all, Trump has close ties in Silicon Valley. It was no coincidence that tech CEOs like Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Elon Musk (X), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta) and Shou Zi Shew (TikTok) were on the front rows at his inauguration.

If the first weeks of the new president show anything, it is that he does not shy away from using leverage to steer geopolitical opponents in a certain direction. For example, during the election campaign, his vice president, J.D. Vance, already threatened to withdraw U.S. support for NATO if Europe attempted to regulate Musk’s platforms. And a recent intervention by Trump put the treaty governing data transfers between Europe and the U.S. under pressure.

Submarine cables

“Totally justified,” Professor of Cybersecurity Bart Jacobs calls the concerns of students and staff at Radboud University. Not just the university in Nijmegen, the whole of the Netherlands and Europe must do something now, according to Jacobs. ‘In terms of ICT, we have become dependent on two unpredictable autocrats. Trump has control over companies that manage our data. He can use that to apply political pressure.’

The other autocrat, Russian president Vladimir Putin, also holds power in this regard, Jacobs explains. Because he can sabotage undersea fibre optic cables, a key link in intercontinental internet and data traffic. “And incidents in the Baltic Sea as well as from patrols in the North Sea, show that this is not entirely hypothetical.’

‘What is positive about Trump is that he has revived the debate on digital autonomy in Europe’

However, this situation also has a positive side, according to Jacobs. ‘What is positive about Trump is that he has revived the debate on digital autonomy in Europe. There is also a growing desire in politics to put a dot on the horizon. I hope that Dutch universities, including Radboud University, will take a leading role in this.’

Political agenda

Indeed, calls for more European digital autonomy are getting louder. In September 2024, Mario Draghi published an incisive report on the future of European competitiveness. In it, the former president of the European Central Bank calls for a review of the policy for cloud technology procurement, among other things. And at an AI summit in Paris last week, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on European governments and investors to invest 200 billion euros in developing artificial intelligence.

Awareness is growing in the Netherlands too. Back in March 2024, the Clingendael Institute published the Policy Letter “Too late to act – Europe’s quest for cloud sovereignty“. In it, the researchers from that Dutch institute argue for alternatives to the small group of US companies – the so-called hyperscalers Microsoft, Amazon and Google – that control the market. The Court of Auditors also recently warned that the government is not sufficiently aware of the risks of working in the cloud. And last Thursday, the House of Representatives talked to experts about the dependence on BigTech.

Alternative cloud systems

Last summer, MPs Jesse Six Dijkstra (NSC) and Barbara Kathmann (GroenLinks) presented their private members’ bill Clouds on the horizon. The MPs set the goal of ‘having a mature Dutch cloud infrastructure by 2029 that allows us to keep essential government services in-house.’

According to Six Dijkstra, universities can play an important role in developing and coordinating the high-quality knowledge needed to deploy cloud technology at a mature level in the Netherlands. “Cloud management is a very different discipline from traditional data management. ‘In study programmes, students still too often learn how to manage Microsoft365 instead of setting up a cloud themselves,’ he says over a video link. ‘This is a worrying trend, because in a few years’ time there will be no one in the Netherlands who knows how to do this.’

Universities could show more ambition, according to the MP, for example by experimenting with alternative cloud systems. ‘A good example is SURF’s pilot with Nextcloud, involving five Dutch universities. But I also talk to numerous smaller Dutch cloud parties that can acquire services from US hyperscalers. Individually, they may be small, but together they can become a strong player.’

The private members’ bill was the subject of a comprehensive cabinet response, which does not appear to be dismissive of the two MPs’ principles. However, it remains to be seen which principles State Secretary Zsolt Szabo (PVV) will eventually adopt. “We hope it leads to decision-making that pushes things in the right direction,” Six Dijkstra said.

New Strategy

Willingness to explore alternatives is also growing within the academic world. A concrete example is the experiment with Nextcloud mentioned by Six Dijkstra (read more about it here), in which five Dutch universities, together with SURF, are running a pilot with a German software company. Professor Bart Jacobs believes that Radboud University should join this initiative. ‘Such a project only has a chance of success if multiple universities participate. And SURF really needs to take a leading role in this field.’

Although Radboud University is not participating in the pilot, the university is aware of its dependence on Big Tech, according to a university spokesperson. ‘We believe it is important to maintain control ourselves. That is why we work with multiple IT suppliers and choose solid exit strategies. We accept that not opting for all-in-one solutions—like those Big Tech prefers to offer—means sacrificing functionality and often putting in more effort to build the solution, but in doing so, we increase diversity and thus our independence.‘ ICT will, in any case, play a role in the development of the university’s new strategy.

However, moving away from Microsoft 365 is not yet on the table. ‘There is currently no European alternative to Microsoft 365 that offers comparable user-friendliness and broad functionality'” the spokesperson said.

Still, the university is discussing measures to reduce its dependence on Microsoft, including in meetings with operational directors. ‘For example, we manage our accounts with One Identity,‘ the spokesperson explained. ‘This means we are not dependent on Microsoft for that, making it easier to switch providers. We also use F-Secure instead of Defender, Microsoft’s malware scanner.’

Time and Money

In addition to Microsoft Teams, the university continues to maintain a Zoom license for a limited number of users for video conferencing. ‘This allows us to uphold the agreements we made with Zoom at the start of the COVID-19 crisis, including those related to privacy, so that we can quickly scale up if needed.’

The spokesperson emphasized that these measures are not without cost. ‘Our dependence grows as we adopt more Microsoft functionalities. The additional costs to limit that dependence increase accordingly.’

‘If the undersea cables are ever cut, we won’t be able to access anything’

Professor of Cybersecurity Bart Jacobs, however, sees a shift in the opposite direction. ‘The Dutch login system SURFconext is increasingly being replaced by Microsoft Login within the university,” he says. ‘If the undersea cables are ever cut, we won’t be able to access anything.’

The professor, who has used the alternative operating system Linux on his computer his entire life, hopes that Radboud University will one day leave Windows 365 behind entirely. Switching to an alternative cloud requires time and money, as everyone would need training to work with a new system. However, Jacobs believes such a transition doesn’t have to be difficult. ‘It can be done gradually—starting with a few departments and later expanding to the entire university. With my research group iHub or the Computer Science department, we could take the lead in such a transition.’