“It’s good to look at alternatives to the Microsofts and Googles of this world. You want to be in charge of your data yourself and not rashly hand it over. So it is also about reclaiming a bit of autonomy,” says Daniel Ostkamp, researcher at Radboud University.

The project is organized by SURF, a cooperative association of Dutch educational and research institutions in which the members combine their strengths to acquire or develop the best possible digital services, and to “encourage knowledge sharing through continuous innovation,” the cooperative says on its website.

[Edit typo.]