Last fall, Buildility received support through Sweden Secure Tech Hub and Cyberly to strengthen their cybersecurity. Since then, the company has continued in the same direction, undergoing a strategic shift to take control of its data. The goal has been to reduce dependency on external cloud services.
Buildility was founded in May 2019 and has its roots in building permit documentation and technical services for the construction industry. Today, the company primarily focuses on digitizing building permit processes and urban development workflows through software development, visualization, and drone services.
Strategic shift for increased security
Buildility has undergone a strategic transformation to regain full control over their data, ensuring they are responsible for both storage and information protection. To achieve this, the company has taken the following actions:
- Complete migration from the cloud.
- Self-hosted infrastructure.
- Local data management: all data is now physically stored on their own servers.
“This change reflects our belief that we should own and administer our systems ourselves, rather than delegating it to external actors,” says Natalia Medrano, Head of Product and Engineering at Buildility.
Switching platforms is described as a relatively simple process. By choosing Nextcloud, a German solution, the company now exclusively uses European providers.
“We are now focusing on designing a robust disaster recovery solution. This involves everything from triple backups to clear routines for quickly restoring the database if something goes wrong,” Natalia says.
Why transparency and open source matter
One of the greatest advantages of the new solution is transparency. With open-source code, users can review the code before it is installed.
“We aren’t locked into a single provider whose business model or terms of service might change overnight. Cloud providers can use data for AI training or suffer crises where we, as customers, have zero influence but all the responsibility. By keeping our data here in Europe, we ensure both data protection and legal control.”
There is an initial challenge in managing infrastructure internally, as building and maintaining your own servers requires the right expertise. However, Natalia believes the benefits outweigh the challenges:
- Full control and insight: because they have their own servers, they know exactly what is happening.
- Data protection and GDPR: by keeping all data within Sweden, they comply with GDPR regulations, and the risk of unauthorized access is reduced.
- Customization: the ability to tailor cybersecurity to specific needs.
Buildility now wants to inspire other companies to make the same journey and reduce their reliance on external cloud services.
“We have built the expertise and can now guide others through installation and security configuration. If Europe wants to become more sovereign in new areas, why not in digital infrastructure? It’s a strategic investment in a secure and independent future,” Natalia concludes.
Sweden Secure Tech Hub
Sweden Secure Tech Hub is a national cybersecurity innovation hub that helps small and medium-sized tech companies to create safer digital products and solutions. It is co-funded by the European Union and run in collaboration between Kista Science City, Blue Science Park, Linköping Science Park, Luleå Science Park, Ideon Science Park and Lindholmen Science Park.
Ready to take your company’s cybersecurity to the next level? Reach out to Sweden Secure Tech Hub.
Cyberly
Join Linköping Science Parks cybersecurity network, Cyberly. Read more and sign up.
