News
The latest news about Gem: newly connected municipalities, releases and lessons learned in practice.
July 2026
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Gemerative AI: from giving answers to genuinely helping
When a resident asks Gem a question, it looks as though Gem answers straight away. But behind the scenes far more is going on. Using generative AI, Gem works out which route leads to the best answer to the question.
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Scaling up Gem
Last week there was attention for the Kwartaalupdate held the previous Thursday . State Secretary Eric van der Burg , ICTU and the VNG posted about it (in Dutch).
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Looking back on an inspiring Gem Kwartaalupdate
Thank you to the more than 100 participants who joined us yesterday for the second Gem Kwartaalupdate! We looked ahead to the future of digital public services with Gem , shared knowledge and experiences , and there were no fewer than eight live demos on the latest developments with Gem . Here is a
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Finding inspiration at the Gem Kwartaalupdate
This Thursday 9 July is the day: the second Gem Kwartaalupdate .
June 2026
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Choosing smartly between frequently asked and local questions to Gem
Some questions come back every day. Think of: "When can I collect my passport?" or "How do I request an extract from the personal records database?" Getting the answer right matters, because will the resident turn up at the desk with the right documents? Almost every municipality receives these comm
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Launch of the new Gem website
Good news: Gem is getting its own website! It brings everything happening around Gem together in one place online.
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In conversation with our test panel
With Gem we want to help all residents well. That is why we are working on a digitally accessible test setup of Gem, called IDA (the Inclusive Digital Assistant).
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Digital accessibility of Gem at municipalities
With Gem we want to help all residents well. That is why we are working on a digitally accessible version of Gem . We are testing with a user panel to improve the user experience further. Last week we shared insights from those tests. In the meantime we have also started rolling Gem out at the first
May 2026
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How digitally accessible is IDA really?
IDA is a trial setup for a digitally accessible chatbot. IDA stands for Inclusive Digital Assistant. The aim is to integrate IDA's technology into Gem, so that municipalities will soon be able to offer a chatbot that is digitally accessible too.
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Finding opening hours and making appointments
“Are you open tomorrow?” and “Can I make an appointment for next Thursday?” . These look like simple questions, but handling them is surprisingly complex.
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Gem in more than one language?
How do we make sure that residents who do not speak Dutch can use Gem as well?
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Sovereignty and language models
When organisations keep control of their own data, infrastructure and management, within applicable Dutch laws and regulations, you can call that sovereign .
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Digital accessibility and the test panel
IDA is a trial setup for building your own Inclusive Digital Assistant.
April 2026
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The contact centre and Gem
Last week there was online attention for the Gem Kwartaalupdate held the previous Thursday. Digitale Overheid and the VNG , among others, posted about it.
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Looking back on the first Gem Kwartaalupdate
Yesterday we signed the collaboration agreement with the VNG and the Gem front-runner municipalities . With this, the VNG confirms its support for Gem. What began as an initiative from practice has grown into a broad collaboration between municipalities and the organisations involved. Yesterday afte
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The Gem steering team
Over the past period the Gem community has once again taken firm steps in developing Gem into a scalable municipal facility. In the collaboration between municipalities, the steering team and the tech team, targeted work is being done on further professionalising roles, tasks and cooperation. At the
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Exams for answer quality
We map the quality of Gem's answers by applying several criteria and by working on a smart test system that can analyse and grade answers. To do this, the test system uses exams.
March 2026
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Making answer quality measurable
To keep a grip on the quality of Gem's answers we do not look at a single aspect, but at a coherent set of criteria. We look at what an answer should contain, and just as much at what it should not . For example, these criteria:
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A grip on answer quality
How do you make sure a resident always gets an answer that is not only correct, but also concise and genuinely usable?
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Gem is Haven-compliant
Gem was in the news last week. iBestuur reported that ‘municipal chatbots are gambling with residents’ trust’ . That called for a response from Gem: ‘Sitting out the chatbot era puts municipalities at a disadvantage’ (both in Dutch).
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Digital accessibility at Gem
Another award for GPT-NL: GPT-NL previously won the Dutch Privacy Award , and this week it won the Dutch AI Award for its contribution to the AI ecosystem.
February 2026
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A first: GPT-NL launched for Gem
On 20 February, GPT-NL — a generative AI language model of Dutch origin — was installed on ICTU's AI machine for practical trials with the virtual municipal assistant Gem. That makes ICTU the first organisation to use GPT-NL in a test setup, in collaboration with 27 municipalities and TNO.