Sovereign Building Blocks – Data Sovereignty as a Driver for Innovation
Today, Ometa supports dozens of Flemish cities and municipalities in managing, among other things, social welfare case files more efficiently. Its real-time integration platform brings together existing applications and data sources, enabling employees to collaborate on a single case without constantly creating copies of data and documents. Large cities and municipalities such as Hasselt, Genk, Turnhout and Mechelen, as well as many smaller local authorities in particular, are already using this technology today.
However, the growing focus on data sovereignty, information security and data classification introduced a new challenge. Some document flows ran through Microsoft 365, while local authorities increasingly want greater control over where sensitive data is stored, who can technically access it, and how it can be processed by search, indexing and AI technologies.
Ometa chose not to address this challenge by removing functionality or forcing users back into separate, closed applications. Instead, the guiding principle was the exact opposite: can we achieve greater data sovereignty while simultaneously improving digital services and the user experience?
Co-creation between Heist-op-den-Berg and Ometa
An important step in this evolution was taken through co-creation between the Local Authority of Heist-op-den-Berg and Ometa. Heist-op-den-Berg was not only facing challenges relating to the protection and sovereignty of sensitive OCMW data. At the same time, its day-to-day operations revealed a range of concrete requirements for further digitalising debt mediation processes and providing better support to employees.
Both partners deliberately chose not to treat these challenges as separate projects. Heist-op-den-Berg contributed its knowledge of the processes, users and day-to-day practice of debt mediation. Ometa contributed its expertise in integration, dynamic case management, data classification and sovereign technology. Together, these insights were translated into a single renewed solution.
This led to the development of the Sovereign Building Blocks: reusable technological building blocks that automatically handle information in the appropriate way based on its classification. Sensitive documents, for example, can be routed to a sovereign S3 storage environment, while remaining accessible to authorised employees from within their familiar Office environment.
On top of this, various technologies are combined for metadata management, application integration, Attribute-Based Access Control, logging and auditing, local AI/ML models for classification, and client-side double-envelope encryption. For the highest classification levels, information can be encrypted in such a way that even the cloud provider’s back-office systems cannot read its contents. As a result, the data is also not automatically available for central indexing or AI applications.
The innovation lies not in any single technology, but in the combination of building blocks and their application according to the sensitivity of the information. After all, not every document needs to be handled in the same way.
Greater sovereignty and more functionality
The collaboration with Heist-op-den-Berg also demonstrated that data sovereignty does not have to be a defensive IT project. The functional requirements for debt mediation were addressed at the same time. Processes were further optimised, and employees were given additional tools to manage their cases more efficiently.
The move towards greater data sovereignty therefore meant not a technological or functional step backwards, but a step forward: greater control over sensitive data, combined with better support for the people who work with it every day.
This approach is now also gaining recognition beyond the original project. In addition to the positive reception among users, the solution was also highlighted by Microsoft and received attention from C-smart. At the same time, this interest is translating into concrete adoption: this year alone, seven additional municipalities have put the solution into production.
What began as a concrete challenge involving sensitive data and debt mediation within a local authority is now evolving into a reusable model for other local governments.
The collaboration between Heist-op-den-Berg and Ometa demonstrates what co-creation can achieve: a local authority that defines new needs and ambitions based on its day-to-day operations, combined with a technology partner that translates them into generic, reusable building blocks. The resulting innovation can then be made available to other local authorities as well.
Sovereign Building Blocks demonstrates that data sovereignty does not have to mean choosing between security and innovation. By bringing government, users and technology together, greater control over data, better service delivery and an improved user experience can go hand in hand.
