A sovereign end-to-end solution that remains under Belgian jurisdiction at all times
Belgian Critical Cloud: Cegeka Group and KEYES’ response to the hyperscalers who tout their so-called “sovereign” solutions. A 100% national alternative for critical digital infrastructures, designed and built using open source.
“More than just a cloud: a solid industrial and financial foundation for a long-term partnership in the field of critical and sovereign digital infrastructures.” That’s how Laurence Mathieu, CEO of KEYES, described the Belgian Critical Cloud yesterday during the TechXperience event.
The ambition? To focus the partnership—which is described as “sustainable” and will be established under “a legal form yet to be determined”—on government agencies, the defense sector, and other operators of critical infrastructure that require the highest standards in terms of security, resilience, and legal certainty.
In Belgium, by Belgians, for Belgians
“Enough about sovereignty—let’s get down to business!”, continues Tom Tomczak, COO of KEYES. Central to the partnership is a joint offering of critical and sovereign cloud services that guarantee that data is hosted on national territory, that there is full compliance with Belgian and European legislation, that operational control takes place in Belgium and within the European Union, and that there is complete independence from foreign extraterritorial legislation such as the U.S. CLOUD Act.
Although France and Germany already offer solutions, Cegeka Groupe and KEYES want to go a step further. And in doing so, they are focusing primarily on open source. “Infrastructure, orchestration, operating systems… By leveraging the flexibility of open source,” continues Tom Tomczak, “we want above all to safeguard our freedom and, in doing so, reaffirm that of our customers!”
In short, “no ties to foreign technologies—not at the level our customers expect!” summarizes Laurence Mathieu.
An ecosystem of national sovereignty
The ambition of the Belgian Critical Cloud extends beyond a simple technological partnership: the two partners aim to contribute to the development of a truly Belgian ecosystem of digital sovereignty by gradually bringing together players from industry, academia, and the innovation sector around a common vision. “By pooling our knowledge, expertise, and capacity for innovation, we can tackle the challenge of digital sovereignty in a sustainable way. ”
Although Cegeka Group and KEYES have been working together on the topic of sovereignty for several months, the current context—particularly the geopolitical situation—is now forcing them to accelerate their efforts. “It is no longer a matter of philosophizing about sovereignty, but of making progress; organizations are actively seeking reliable local alternatives that guarantee control, compliance, and resilience,” adds Dimitri Verscoore, CEO Office at KEYES. Hence our project for an end-to-end solution that remains permanently under Belgian jurisdiction.”
This approach to sovereign resilience, which guarantees the protection and continuity of essential national digital assets, draws on one of the country’s leading sources of digital expertise: Cegeka Group and KEYES rank among the top three in the Belgian IT sector. The same applies to the infrastructure, with SIL 3+-classified facilities for the project (Safety Integrity Level; a scale from 1 to 4).
A Long-Term Industrial Project
“By combining our expertise—which, incidentally, complements each other—we offer an integrated approach unique in Belgium that can support both public and private organizations in addressing their challenges in the areas of resilience, business continuity, and strategic autonomy,” emphasizes Laurence Mathieu. “For years, we have been designing, operating and securing complex environments.”
That is why the partnership surrounding the Belgian Critical Cloud has been established by both partners as a long-term industrial collaboration, supported by joint investments, joint governance, and a shared roadmap.
