Computer system failures affecting multiple government services

Major computer systems failures were affecting a variety of government offices and services on Wednesday. The cause of the malfunctions is not known, nor whether they are related. All flights in and out of Eindhoven Airport were suspended due to an unstated technical problem, the airport said separately in the morning.

Both the Coast Guard and the Marechaussee said they were facing technical problems that made the services barely accessible since late Tuesday night. The latter is the branch of the military responsible for passport controls at airports and seaports, some security operations at those facilities, and also border monitoring services.

The Coast Guard said that this involves both telephone and radio connections. The Marechaussee contact center was brought offline due to the issue.

The emergency services are also impacted. “There is currently a national disruption that is interrupting the usual alarm and communication system for emergency services,” said the Utrecht regional emergency services office. The organization said it is employing an emergency protocol so that the effect on reporting emergencies and dispatching personnel is unaffected.

The office said that the 112 emergency phone line is still available to the public, as is the non-emergency line 0900-0904.

A technology failure affected the citizen's secure login service DigiD. This malfunction has consequences for paying and reviewing fines from the central collection service CJI, among other things.

People are also having difficulty making an appointment online for a vaccination against Covid-19. Public health service GGD GHOR Nederland said that this mainly happens to people who try to log in via their mobile phones.

The DigiD service is also often used to login into the website of the Dutch tax office, Belastingdienst, as well as other organizations, like health insurers, hospitals, and the CBR, which issues drivers licenses and exams.