Zsolt Szabó (Dutch politician)

Zsolt Szabó
Szabó in 2006
State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitalisation
Incumbent
Assumed office 2 July 2024
Prime Minister	Dick Schoof
Minister	Judith Uitermark
Preceded by	Alexandra van Huffelen
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 3 June 2003 – 30 November 2006
Personal details
Born	Ferenc Zsolt Szabó (1961-11-24) 24 November 1961 (age 63) Amsterdam, Netherlands
Political party	PVV (2024–present)
Other political affiliations	VVD (1986–2024)
Occupation	Politician corporate executive

Ferenc Zsolt Szabó (born 24 November 1961) is a Dutch politician. He served as a member of the House of Representatives between 2003 and 2005 for the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), and he has been State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitalisation on behalf of the right-wing populist Party for Freedom in the Schoof cabinet since July 2024.

Career

He was a member of the House of Representatives from 3 June 2003 to 30 November 2006. He was the VVD's spokesperson for ICT and development cooperation, and second spokesperson for foreign affairs. During this period, Szabó was of the opinion that the Netherlands, "partly under pressure from international legislation", would soon see the introduction of the electronic signature and identity cards with biometric features (fingerprint and iris scan). In early June 2004, he asked State Secretary Medy van der Laan for an explanation about the use of open source software in the department, because Szabó wanted to prevent "OSS fetishism" in the government.[1]

He later served as vice president of IT consulting firm Capgemini. Simultaneously, he was chairman of the foundation that manages the Dutch do not call list, and he was vice chairman of ECP, an information society think tank.[2]

After the PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB formed the Schoof cabinet, Szabó was sworn in as State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitalisation on 2 July 2024. He serves on behalf of the PVV, and he ended his VVD membership.[2][3] Szabó stated that he wanted a more centralized approach to arranging and purchasing digital technologies in national and local governments. He planned to establish a coordinating department that could be consulted. He called the previous approach fragmented and unstandardised, and he said that it was no longer fit for technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and cloud computing.[4]

Personal life

Szabó is married and has three children.[5] Both parents of Szabó are Hungarian. Upon his selection as state secretary, he clarified that he did not possess the Hungarian nationality.[3]

References

1. Staten-Generaal, Tweede Kamer der (23 June 2004). "Informatie- en communicatietechnologie (ICT) in het onderwijs; Verslag algemeen overleg van 3 juni 2004 over o.m. internetvoorziening onderwijs en afrondingsovereenkomst nl.tree/KPN". zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 June 2024.
2. "Digitaliseringsexpert en VVD'er Zsolt Szabó staatssecretaris voor de PVV" [Digitalisation expert and VVD member Zsol Szabó state secretary for the PVV]. nos.nl (in Dutch). 13 June 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
3. Klaassen, Niels (19 June 2024). "PVV-staatssecretaris Szabó checkte maandag nog welke nationaliteit hij heeft: 'Ik ben Nederlander'" [PVV State Secretary Szabó checked his nationality this Monday: 'I am Dutch']. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 23 June 2024.
4. De Horde, Cor; Houtman, Jasper (21 November 2024). "Rijk trekt digitalisering lagere overheden naar zich toe" [National government itakes control of digitalisation of local governments]. Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 November 2024.
5. Zaken, Ministerie van Algemene (2 July 2024). "Zsolt Szabó - Rijksoverheid.nl". www.rijksoverheid.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 12 September 2024.

Political offices
Preceded by Alexandra van Huffelen	State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitalisation 2024–present	Incumbent