Without consciously choosing to do so, many Dutch companies have become dependent on foreign tech giants in recent years. American cloud platforms such as Microsoft, Google Cloud, and Amazon Web Services have become hugely popular, partly because they are so easy to set up and use. While that data is often stored in European data centers, the provider itself is subject to U.S. law and, therefore, U.S. jurisdiction.
For a long time, we didn’t pay much attention to this. But due to the shifting geopolitical landscape in recent years, the debate has grown increasingly heated, both in the Netherlands and throughout the rest of Europe. After all, what are the actual consequences of having foreign companies manage your data?
The U.S. CLOUD Act allows U.S. authorities to use legal proceedings to demand access to data held by U.S. tech companies, even if that data is physically stored in Europe. But the implications go beyond mere legal risks. For example, in 2025, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague suddenly lost access to his own Microsoft account due to U.S. sanctions legislation. And 78 percent of European IT leaders say that digital sovereignty is now a greater concern than it was a year ago.
In short: if your phone system, email, or customer management runs on a foreign platform, you have less control over your own business operations than you might think.
Digital sovereignty, also known as data sovereignty, revolves around one question: Who has control over your data?
This is about more than just privacy; it’s about where your data is stored, which laws govern it, who has access to it, and what happens if a foreign government or court has a different opinion on the matter than you do. Do you have control over your customer conversations, your employee data, and your internal communications?
There are now concrete examples of how things can be done differently. The German state of Schleswig-Holstein migrated its entire email system from Microsoft to open-source alternatives in six months, as part of a broader plan to gradually reduce its dependence on foreign tech companies. This has already saved the state more than 15 million euros per year in license fees that no longer go to Microsoft.
In the Netherlands, the debate is also continuing to intensify. In April 2026, seven Dutch IT companies, including KPN and Uniserver, presented a joint manifesto calling for a sovereign government cloud based on open standards and subject to Dutch and European jurisdiction.
Because we see that this issue is becoming increasingly urgent, we have made a conscious decision to offer Dutch companies an alternative.
To that end, we partner with Uniserver, one of the leading Dutch cloud providers, for the hosting and infrastructure of all our platforms. Their data centers are managed on Dutch soil, are fully subject to Dutch and European law, and operate using ISO 27001-certified infrastructure. In addition, they are also co-founders of the Open Cloud Alliance.
Processing and storage in certified Dutch data centers.
All infrastructure is subject to Dutch and European law. This ensures that GDPR compliance is verifiable and audit-ready.
We use open standards and a modular architecture, so you retain control over your own data and integrations.
Our ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certifications are publicly available, and our infrastructure choices are open to inquiry.
This approach is embedded in everything we build. This includes telephony, because telephony is perhaps the most underrated data source within an organization.
Every call your employees make is recorded. Call recordings, call history, customer information—it’s all data. And just like with email or CRM, it’s something most organizations don’t give much thought to.
With Phone System, all data is stored right here in the Netherlands. Calls, recordings, and customer information are stored on Dutch infrastructure, under European law, and in full compliance with the GDPR.
Wondering what that means in practice for your organization?
Pegamento builds AI-driven solutions for customer engagement and business communication. From smart knowledge bases and email automation to VoIP telephony, for organizations such as Kindergarden, City of Amsterdam and Grafisch Lyceum Utrecht.
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Hospitality is one of my deepest motivations.
Not surprisingly, of course, customer service is a common thread in my career. Aspects of hospitality is being able to connect, to facilitate but mainly to make someone feel genuinely welcome. My intuition is my greatest asset to be able to put myself in the shoes of a guest. A customer is my guest.
Fed by various senses, an image forms around the client. I listen to what is being said, watch facial expressions, taste the underlying tone and get a feel for the challenge to be addressed. An image literally forms on my retina. I have to be able to see it. If I can see it, I can create it.
In this, the trick is to pursue simplicity, give the client a warm feeling that the problem is understood, receive good advice, facilitated and carefully guided to the solution. Trust, connect and unburden.
The feeling when a guest arrives at your hotel after a long tiring journey, can sit in front of the fireplace, be handed a good glass of wine and stare carefree at the fire. My guest knows it will be okay.
This piece was written by Ernst Vegter, working as a Business Consultant at Pegamento.
How can I help you? That’s pretty much the first question I ask when talking to people who are curious about our services. In such a conversation, the use of senses is very important. Because not everyone is the same. One person thinks in images, while for another words are important or how something feels. For me, sight and hearing are the most beautiful senses, because both eyes and ears absorb information and can convey or process emotions.
Why hearing? Because listening is essential in contact. And it’s the key to unlocking valuable insights.
I developed this skill early on. As a child, I enjoyed radio plays on the radio, bringing the stories to life in my head.
Recognizing and automating patterns. Tasks we are constantly working on when implementing our robots at Pegamento. My 2 Drentsche Patrijshonden are hunting dogs and certainly not robots. The hunting instinct and intuition is basically in their genes. Continuing to offer new forms of training has taught them to recognize and act independently in hunting situations. Even “unsupervised,” even if I’m not around.
But when you try to teach a brain something, it also starts to see things you don’t expect. Dogs pick up on the slightest deviation in your voice or directions. To start recognizing that and correcting it again is perhaps the most complex challenge. But in our work, for the wonderful clients for whom we get to work, it often yields the most beautiful new insights!
This piece was written by Rob, founder of Pegamento and in charge of Marketing and R&D.
Feeling. That’s the best thing Pegamento stands for. Feeling for technology in the broadest sense of the word. Not only feeling for the exciting stuff like AI, but also for the basics of communication.
The very best part of my job is selling, listening, translating and thinking about what really matters. We bring the digital transformation with a great team!
The diversity of our team, how sharp we are, but especially the wonderful things we get to make makes me feel extremely good. Hence, I intuitively chose the sense of “feeling.
Feeling gives life and differentiation!