The Data Utility Company’s Solid Pod platform is designed to handle the most sensitive citizen data without leaking confidential personal…
What makes us unique?
Some of our most obvious strong points:
- Stap 1
EU-based cloud infrastructure, PCI, SOC 2, ISO 27001 certified
- Stap 2
Operated in line with GDPR
- Stap 3
In compliance with the Solid Specifications
- Stap 4
Integrated with the SIEM (Security Incident & Event Management) & SOC (Security Operations Center) environment of the Flemish government
- Stap 5
Guaranteed high availability
- Stap 6
Security and privacy by design, including encryption of data and supporting processes to protect personal data
Differentiators
Security by Design 
The Data Utility Company’s Solid Pod platform combines software and operational processes to prevent, detect, and respond to security breaches.
Trust by Design 
By working closely with the Flemish Government and critical private sector organizations, the Data Utility Company ensures that citizens can safely…
Overview of players involved / geographical location
ESS Infrastructure Provider | ESS Pod provider | Hostname & T&C | Set up and operational operation | Hosting | Hosting location | Solid implementation |
Orange Business Services Cloud Infrastructure(opent in nieuw venster) | Amsterdam & Paris | Inrupt(opent in nieuw venster) ESS v2.0 (*) |
(*) Inrupt, as a US company, is the provider of the software. The US vendor cannot technically or contractually access the data. The operational processing of data takes place on the territory of the European Union (Belgium, the Netherlands, France) under the responsibility of an operator from the European Union (Cronos Group) under European law.
Enterprise-ready Solid Platform
In order to foster innovation and to ensure the Data Utility Company’s Solid Pod platform keeps the pace of change in this innovative Solid standard, the Flanders Government has partnered with Inrupt; the company co-founded by Solid creator and web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
Inrupt’s enterprise technology and industry expertise ensures the Solid Pod platform can support the speed, scale, security, and compliance needs of a wide variety of companies and use cases. This partnership allows the Flemish Data Utility Company to build a unique Solid Pod platform that:
- Guarantees secure, stable and high-performance operation on a large scale, thanks to a cloud-agnostic microservices architecture
- Protects sensitive data, thanks to system and audit logs that have been designed to contain no Personally Identifiable Information
- Supports demanding SLAs, thanks to replication across data centres in multiple regions and automated CI/CD pipelines
- Integrates with ITSM processes, including support, incident management and encryption key management, which are set up & operated within the framework contract of the Flemish Government
These features add to an out-of-the-box Pod infrastructure that organizations can rely and build on. The Data Utility Company’s Solid Pod platform enables companies to develop solid-based business models and applications to serve citizens in Flanders and beyond.
Moreover, Inrupt works closely with many large organizations across a range of industry verticals – from academic institutions and tech startups to finance, governments, healthcare, retail, and more – to understand their unique requirements for Solid. As a result of the requirements gathered from these engagements, Inrupt’s Enterprise Solid Server (ESS) software informs and leads the Solid specification development. The company builds and tests new solutions to meet customer requirements and then feeds the most critical advancements back to the Solid specification so everyone can benefit.
This process ensures that the Data Utility Company’s Solid Pod platform, built on ESS, will always maintain its connection to the core of Solid.