Municipality of The Hague: Data-supported work at its best.

Compared to those of many other large municipalities, the website of the municipality of The Hague is a paragon of efficiency, sobriety and solidity. You might not expect it at first glance, but the steps the municipality has taken in the field of IT modernization are impressive. How did they do that?

The Haque; Centre of Dutch politics

In addition to being the capital of the province of South Holland, with all the facilities that go with it, The Municipality of The Hague is also the center of Dutch politics.  Not only does the city house ministries and embassies, it is also the residence of the royal family. In addition, many international organisations have chosen The Hague as the location for their headquarters, such as the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court and international organisations such as the OPCW. In The Hague, many things are often just that little bit more complex.

To facilitate all this, IT has played an important role for years. This is partly possible thanks to a clear picture of the processes that take place in a city like The Hague. A lot of attention has been paid to the latter in recent years and the municipality is one of the few organizations where almost all municipal processes and their dependencies have been mapped out (https://irma.denhaag.nl/processen).

But the municipality does more than that. This year, for example, she organized “Hâck The Hague” for the 5th time, a competition in which hackers try to penetrate the municipality’s computer systems. For example, they check how digitally secure the systems of the municipality of The Hague are. The municipality is also at the forefront of the adoption of Common Ground and in particular the HaalCentraal initiative.

The Hague in numbers; Eye-catching initiative

Another striking initiative is “The Hague in Figures (DHIC)” (https://denhaag.incijfers.nl/content/overdezesite), a good example where knowledge of processes and technology come together. The information present here can be used in policy and project processes and to create reports from which the residents of The Hague and other interested parties can retrieve information.

Data is therefore important and The Hague has chosen Enable U as a partner for many of the integration activities. The municipality uses Enable U’s API Gateway for secure HaalCentral and other API connections with national facilities and other applications. It also uses Enable U 2Distribute as a replacement for an older data distribution system.

“With Enable U, the municipality secures an integration partner with a lot of knowledge of the government. They understand better than anyone that supporting hybrid environments with the latest technology and standards is very important for a large municipality like The Hague.”

Niels Beckers, CCO of Enable U; “The Hague is often at the forefront and the fact that they choose a company like Enable U to provide support and technology is a great compliment. The choice for Enable U 2Distribute, in particular  , helps the municipality to get even more value out of their available data.”