Government on BeLibre - Belgian Think Tank on Digital Autonomy

One year of BeLibre: why digital freedom concerns us all

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 16:00:00 +0100

Imagine waking up one morning to find that the local council no longer knows who is entitled to social support. That the hospital can no longer access patient records. That the police have lost their communication systems. Not because of an attack, but simply because one American company somewhere far away has a technical outage, raises its prices, or suddenly refuses access.

Sounds far-fetched? Less than you might think. But this article is not about fear. It is about what becomes possible when you make conscious choices.

The pigeon that flew back: how Belgium quietly chose open source messaging

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Imagine: the year is 1914. Somewhere on the Western Front, a small pigeon is released with a message tied to its leg. It doesn’t know why. It doesn’t know for whom. It simply flies — reliable, unseen, tireless — and delivers the message.

For centuries, the pigeon was the gold standard of secure communication. No wires to tap. No central server to hack. Decentralised by nature. And surprisingly hard to intercept.

BeLibre Sovereignty Map

Mon, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Interactive map where you can discover digital sovereignty in municipalities, schools, emergency services or other critical infrastructure in our country and beyond.