Smals Chooses Google Cloud for Belgian Public Sector Modernization

Smals, the joint IT organization for Belgian public institutions, has selected Google Cloud as its main public cloud provider according to a press release. The agreement, awarded under the GÉANT OCRE24 framework with SoftwareOne as a partner, will give Smals members access to Google Cloud services to improve the delivery of citizen services across Belgium.

Smals is incorporating public cloud into its infrastructure alongside existing on premise systems and the governmental community cloud, known as G Cloud. The organization will continue operating its private cloud while maintaining operational control over workloads hosted on Google Cloud. This hybrid setup will allow member institutions to access AI models and agentic platforms provided by Google Cloud.

All deployments will comply with the European Commission’s Cloud Sovereignty Framework and the Belgian Federal Taskforce Cloud’s Workload Policy. The implementation includes portability requirements to ensure long term flexibility and minimize vendor dependency.

To support this transition, Smals and its member institutions have launched a Cloud Computing Center of Excellence. The initiative will promote knowledge sharing, establish best practices across cloud providers, and work toward a unified hybrid and multi vendor cloud environment for Belgian social security institutions.