Organisations in Belgium and Luxembourg are turning to the cloud for their IT, but there are striking differences in the level of take-up within the region
Some 44% of Belgian companies with more than 50 staff make use of the public cloud for one or more IT solutions.
Flemish companies are far more active users than their counterparts in Brussels and Wallonia, while Luxembourg, a renowned datacentre country, lags even further behind.
Belgium's Digital Agenda minister Alexander de Croo has launched a new plan for expanding the digital economy in Belgium. Croo said the government's 'Digital Belgium' plan aims to put the country in the top three of the EU's Digital Economy and Society Index by 2020. Belgium ranked fifth in the most recent version of the index, based mainly on data from 2014.
De Croo's plan include five priorities. The first aims to strengthen investment in digital infrastructure. This will include earlier announced plans aimed at making it easier to switch fixed network provider, as well as regulation aimed at making easier to roll out next-generation broadband infrastructure and to ensure a level playing field in the market.
Read more: Digital Belgium plan proposes tax breaks for start-ups
Electronic invoicing constitutes a priority in the context of simplifying public administration. It is a modern, convenient, economical and reliable tool that not only allows public authorities to make savings on operating costs but also companies to reduce their administrative burdens.
Read more: BE: Launch of a website dedicated to electronic invoicing
To be able to access the electronic public administration services, users must authenticate themselves and their access permission must be verified. Currently, there are several parallel systems to do this. The Federal Government will soon create an integrated system suitable for all user groups and all eGovernment applications. This system will be safer, more user-friendly and more efficient for the public administration.
Read more: BE: New identity and access management platform for public eServices
This new application is the result of collaboration between the Federal Department of Justice and the Administrative Simplification Agency. The Minister of Administrative Simplification, Olivier Chastel, positively commented on this initiative: "The online communication between citizens and registries simplifies the work. eRegistry is easy to use and so from now on the long trips to the Registry Office belong to the past. Citizens will spare the plethora of paper-based administrative burdens.”
Read more: BE: eRegistry application allows the online registration of non-profit organisations