2025: Financial report

In additional to the fine weather, the summer also yielded some great figures: the drop in the number of .be domain names began to stabilise – a trend that continued for the remainder of 2025.

There are a number of factors that may be contributing to this stabilising of numbers. As a result of the complex geopolitical situation, more businesses and people are becoming aware of the importance of digital independence, in which having a Belgian domain name plays an important role. At the same time, there is a growing realisation that social media can be used to complement a website, rather than being a fully-fledged alternative.

There is also a temporary effect at play here, too. During the coronavirus pandemic, an exceptionally large number of people registered their own domain name to use for a new project or an online business activity. A proportion of those initiatives disappeared again in the years that followed, causing the total number of domain names to fall. Now that the significant spike caused by the pandemic is some way behind us, the subsequent decline in registrations has largely run its course and the number of registered domain names is stabilising once again.

Also, it is simpler than ever these days to build your own website. Thanks to the arrival of AI tools, virtually anyone with a good idea can put a professional-looking website together in a matter of minutes. As a result, both the cost and the technical barrier to establishing an online presence have been reduced.

Plans to make our infrastructure more independent also took shape in 2025: at the end of the year, we announced that our registration system would be moving in 2026 from AWS to a European provider. This was a decision that is being watched closely by organisations in Belgium and the rest of Europe, and through which we aim to set an example and lead the way in the field of digital sovereignty.

Internally, we laid the foundations for a reorganisation designed to bind the teams together more closely. This exercise will run until 2026.

Celebratory and sustainable projects

DNS Belgium has now managed the .be zone for 25 years. This anniversary was marked by a magnificent celebration for all our staff and partners who have supported us over the past quarter of a century. We also launched wijzijn.be and cestnous.be, a consumer brand through which we aim to encourage even more people and businesses to register their own domain name, thereby strengthening their digital independence.

In addition to our anniversary, there were plenty of other reasons to celebrate: we won two BOCAs (Best of Content Awards) for our ‘Wasda Slim? Of Nie?’ (‘Was That A Good Idea? Or Not?’) awareness campaign on cybersecurity for young people. And in 2025, we also met the requirements for the Voka Charter voor Duurzaam Ondernemen (VCDO) (Sustainable Business Charter) for the eighth consecutive time. We will also continue to support sustainable business practices through our sister organisation Digital For Youth, which donated an impressive 3,696 laptops to youth organisations and schools in 2025.

HR

DNS Belgium continues to fulfil its aim of being (and remaining) an inspiring, sustainable work environment, featuring operational excellence and the impeccable administrations of HR matters.

Reorganisation and recruitment

In 2025, we embarked on a reorganisation programme. The aim is to make DNS Belgium more agile, more efficient and better equipped for the future. The new organisational structure brings related areas of expertise closer together, clarifies roles and responsibilities, and streamlines decision-making. Through the reorganisation, staff are also brought closer together with their managers, which has the effect of improving communication, as well as improving support and engagement, as well as enhancing the effectiveness of management.

By placing greater emphasis on collaboration across team boundaries and making the best use of people’s skills and expertise, we are creating an organisation that is better prepared to face future challenges and for achieving strategic objectives. The reorganisation also demonstrated that we need additional expertise and capacity in a number of our areas. To meet this aim, targeted recruitment began at the end of 2025 and will continue in 2026.

Diversity and inclusion

As part of our DEI charter, we began preparing a baseline assessment on diversity, equity and inclusion. This assessment forms the starting point for a properly based and measurable DEI policy and supports the development of a practical action plan.

The aim of the assessment is to produce a quality evaluation of both visible and less visible forms of diversity within the organisation, as well as topics such as psychological safety, equal opportunities and engagement.

The results will be used to identify trends, set priorities and develop targeted action points that contribute towards an inclusive and forward-looking organisation. Based on this baseline assessment, we will be able to track progress towards our DEI objectives in a measurable way.

Training

We continued to invest in the development of our staff in 2025. Using in-house training courses on S3 and value-based discussions, the aim was to further embed the principles we have set out in our new business compass – which emerged from the reorganisation – within our organisation. These training programmes help contribute towards achieving a shared approach to collaboration, decision-making and (self-) management.

Wellbeing

In 2025, staff were able to take part in a series of voluntary à la carte initiatives designed to support their physical and mental wellbeing. One such initiative was a fitness assessment carried out in collaboration with our external occupational health service, IDEWE, whilst the topics of nutrition and the menopause were also covered during information sessions. We as an organisation aim to use this process to emphasise our commitment to the wellbeing and long-term employability of the people who work with us.