System Architecture Document: Data Curation Pipeline - GPTNL-DEL-4001

The GPT-NL project aims to develop a Dutch-English large language model (LLM) from the ground up to promote technological sovereignty and strengthen the Dutch and broader European LLM ecosystem. Achieving this objective requires a structured systems engineering approach encompassing requirements elicitation, design, implementation, and validation. Beyond the creation of the model itself, sovereignty and community growth depend on transparent dissemination of knowledge about how such a system is built. This document therefore presents the architectural blueprint—both in code and documentation—for the first part of this development phase: the System Architecture of the Data Curation Pipeline. The documentation and systematic management of this technological blueprint are intended to stimulate new research directions and enable future improvements. The GPT-NL System Architecture effort serves as the foundation for these goals by providing a coherent, welldocumented engineering framework for large-scale model development.
From a general point of view, the system architecture activities provide a structured conceptual model defining the organization, behaviour, and interactions of system components. It offers a high-level view of how hardware, software, data, and processes collaborate to achieve the intended system goals. Through clear specification of components, interfaces, and design principles, the architecture ensures that key system attributes—such as performance, scalability, security, and maintainability—are addressed systematically and in alignment with stakeholder requirements and operational constraints.
Within the GPT-NL team, system architecture plays a coordinating role by providing a shared technical framework that guides design, implementation, and verification across teams. This work, conducted under Work Package 13 (WP13), facilitates communication among engineers, researchers, and developers by defining clear interfaces and dependencies. The architectural team ensures design consistency, manages technical risks, and balances tradeoffs among quality attributes. As a result, this document and the associated work contribute to the alignment of strategic objectives and technical execution, promoting system coherence, continuity, and effective integration throughout the development lifecycle.