NACE 63 – Information Service Activities | Public Tenders

Definition: NACE 63 covers information service activities such as data processing, hosting of data and websites, web portal operation as well as the provision of news agencies and other information services. This division covers the infrastructure of the data economy, which is of central importance to public administrations.

Legal basis: NACE Rev. 2 (Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006) · Last updated: January 2026

What does NACE 63 cover?

NACE 63 (Information service activities) classifies companies that operate data processing and hosting services as well as information portals — an area with strongly growing demand driven by the digitalisation of public administrations and the increasing outsourcing of data centre services.

Division 63 within Section J (Information and Communication) is broken down into two groups:

Public contracting authorities procure from this sector in particular data centre and cloud services, hosting for government portals as well as data and monitoring services.

Public Tenders: Sector NACE 63

Public information service contracts are growing with the progressive cloud strategy of public bodies — data centre consolidation, sovereign cloud solutions and open-data portals are central procurement topics.

Typical types of contract

• Cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS): Virtual servers, storage and network resources for authorities
• Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS): Development platforms for the creation and operation of government applications
• Data centre operation and colocation: Operation or shared use of data centres with defined SLAs
• Web hosting and portal operation: Hosting of government websites, citizen portals and e-government platforms
• Press monitoring and media monitoring: Ministries and press offices procure monitoring subscriptions
• Open data infrastructure: Operation of data infrastructures for the provision of public datasets

Relevant CPV codes for NACE 63

The link between the NACE classification and tender search is provided by the CPV codes (Common Procurement Vocabulary), which must be stated in every contract notice on TED.

Current tenders with these CPV codes can be found on TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) as well as on national procurement platforms.

For Contracting Authorities and Bidders

Public contracting authorities

IT service centres of public administration (ITZBund, BRZ, ITDZ Berlin), ministries, universities as well as municipal IT operations are the main contracting authorities for NACE 63 services. The European Commission procures cloud services via central framework agreements (DIGIT). For sovereign cloud solutions, national initiatives (Gaia-X, German Administration Cloud) are gaining importance. Data protection requirements (GDPR, NIS2) are key eligibility criteria in hosting procurement.

Companies and bidders

Hosting and cloud providers participating in public tenders must typically provide the following evidence:

• Data centre location: Evidence that data is processed and stored in the EU (GDPR Art. 44 et seq.)
• Security certifications: ISO/IEC 27001, BSI C5 (Cloud Computing Compliance Criteria Catalogue), SOC 2
• Availability and SLA: Evidence of guaranteed availability (typically 99.5–99.99 %) and compensation for outages
• Data protection impact assessment: Willingness to cooperate in DPIA processes of the contracting authorities

Frequently Asked Questions on NACE 63 and public tenders

Which companies fall under NACE 63?
Data centres, cloud providers, web hosting providers, content delivery networks, news agencies and press monitoring services. This is distinct from IT service providers (NACE 62), who develop or operate software, and telecommunications providers (NACE 61), who provide networks.

What needs to be considered for procurement of cloud services under public procurement law?
Cloud services must be tendered as service contracts. Particular challenges are the contract term (avoidance of lock-in), portability of data (exit clauses), data protection (data processing, Article 28 GDPR) and security requirements. Framework agreements with multiple providers are a frequently chosen solution.

May a public contracting authority prefer a specific cloud provider?
No — the prohibition of discrimination forbids favouring individual providers without objective grounds. Technical requirements may not be drafted in such a way that only one provider can meet them (section 31 VgV, section 22 BVergG). Product-neutral descriptions of services are required.

Navigation: NACE 63 in context

• NACE J – Information and Communication: Parent section
• NACE 62 – Computer programming, consultancy and related activities: Software development and IT consultancy
• NACE 61 – Telecommunications: Networks and transmission infrastructure
• NACE 58 – Publishing activities: Digital content and database licensing

Last updated: January 2026
All information is provided without guarantee. For legally binding advice, please consult a law firm specialising in public procurement law.