Informatiepunten Digitale Overheid — Library Help Desks for Online Government Services in the Netherlands

Informatiepunten Digitale Overheid (IDO) are low-threshold help desks in Dutch public libraries where citizens get first-line help with online government services. Launched in 2019 by the Ministry of the Interior (BZK), the national library KB and the Manifestgroep, with service providers such as the tax authority, UWV and DUO.
Growth: about 400 points and 18,000 questions by July 2022 (Computable); 682 points and a 100,000th question marked in Rotterdam by July 2023 (NOS). BZK announced more than EUR 18 million of extra funding to pay for trained staff and longer opening hours.
Who is helped: DigiD is the topic of 24% of questions; people aged 65+ ask six in ten; 38% of conversations last over twenty minutes. Roughly 4.5 million Dutch adults struggle to find and use digital government services.
Caveat: sources report volumes and usage, not a formal impact evaluation of whether problems were solved or skills improved. Since 2023 funding is a specific grant with municipalities taking a local steering role, a change contested in a 2025 parliamentary motion.

Read the full analysis: https://nos.nl/l/2482218