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Source: Heliview - Dutch Data Day

The following article was originally published by Heliview in the context of Dutch Data Day. We are sharing it here to highlight valuable insights into how data is transforming the future of Dutch football. All credits for the original content go to Heliview.

During Dutch Data Day (April 16, Utrecht), Rick Koetsier and Bas Hakvoort – both working within the KNVB’s Data Intelligence Team – offer a unique behind-the-scenes look at how data is being used to structurally improve Dutch football. From league structures to fan experience, data is playing an increasingly important role.

Running SAS in the cloud just got easier. Notilyze today announced an expansion of its compute options, offering organizations a more efficient, flexible, and cost-effective way to run SAS Viya and SAS Analytics Pro on Notilyze Cloud. 

These improvements are supported by a recent hardware refresh and the transition to a new EU-based datacenter, improving overall efficiency and consistency across the platform. 

SAS and Notilyze Offer an European Alternative.

In recent years, discussions about digital sovereignty have shifted from theoretical topics to strategic necessities. While the topic was mainly discussed at conferences four years ago, governments and other organizations are now taking concrete steps to gain control over their data. Geopolitical developments and stricter European regulations have accelerated this movement.

Notilyze Cloud moves to WorldStream’s EU data centers for high performance, scalability, and guaranteed EU compliance.

Notilyze, a leading provider of SAS Viya Cloud solutions, has completed a major upgrade of its cloud platform by migrating its SAS Viya Cloud infrastructure to WorldStream’s high-performance data centers in the Netherlands. This strategic move strengthens Notilyze’s ability to deliver faster analytics performance, greater scalability, and full compliance with EU data sovereignty requirements. 

The LLMs4EU initiative (“Large Language Models for the European Union”) is a 3-year European project (2025-2028) funded under the Digital Europe Programme and coordinated by ALT-EDIC. Its aim is to strengthen Europe’s independence, competitiveness, and cultural diversity in generative AI by building a transparent, multilingual ecosystem of Large Language Models (LLMs). 

LLMs4EU is a multi-national, multi-institutional initiative aimed at developing trustworthy, multilingual large language models across different EU sectors. Notilyze is a core industrial partner with operational experience in deploying AI systems at scale, making them uniquely positioned to guide technical and domain-specific decisions. 

The KNVB recently participated in the global SAS Hackathon and HackSprint. Together with Notilyze, the KNVB Data Intelligence team took on the challenge of optimizing league schedules using the SAS Optimization tool. The goal was to reduce travel distances, maintain a fair and exciting competition, and contribute to CO₂ reduction in football.

The team, FC Data Dribblers, spent one month developing a proof of concept to make match schedules smarter and more sustainable. Using SAS Optimization, they tested new approaches to organize competitions more efficiently and environmentally responsibly.