Security and trust

Establishment of an international network for the development of basic global conditions for technologies and innovations which allow people to make their data available for the common good, to cooperate in the building of economic and social ecosystems (including collective intelligence) and to participate independently in digital democracy in an informed manner.

One precondition for the operation of automated vehicles is that the risks in relation to cybersecurity can be minimised. This is achieved not least by means of preventive measures. Within the framework of this project, measures are being developed for the prevention of, and recovery from, cybersecurity incidents (plans, organisation).

The DaziT program simplifies, optimizes and digitizes all customs, duty collection and control processes. This reduces regulatory costs for the economy and increases Switzerland's security.

Continuous development of the cyber defence (CYD) campus to the level of the national technical competence network for cyberdefence with universities and industry.

This measure aims to improve user trust and acceptance with respect to electronic official documents. The primary goal is to confirm to recipients that the official document is authentic and not a forgery. A signature validator from the federal government for use by authorities and private individuals will make it possible to verify the origin and integrity of digitally signed and sealed documents. Documents can be forged very easily in the digital space; this service will help to advance digital Switzerland by encouraging trust in electronic official documents.

Clarify terms and concepts, further determine Switzerland's degree of sovereignty and its strengths and vulnerabilities, and define work processes in relation to digital sovereignty.

Continuation of the work streams in accordance with the Federal Council's decision of June 2021:

1. Clarifying legal competencies in the Internet and, in particular, access rights to data.
2. Dealing with the US CLOUD Act and the EU's proposal on e-evidence.
3. Ensuring the inviolability of international organisations' data within the framework of efforts to position Switzerland as a host state in the digital space.

The work on digital sovereignty is discussed with various external stakeholders.

Working closely with the media sector to create a national action plan on the protection of journalists in Switzerland.

Many media professionals experience hostility and even hate speech online. This situation has only gotten worse during the COVID-19 pandemic. The action plan will therefore include measures to protect journalists from threats and hate speech online.

Monitoring how the Federal Administration’s AI guidelines (adopted by the Federal Council in November 2019) are applied and how up-to-date they are.

Considering the highly dynamic technology involved in AI, it is vital that the AI guidelines remain up-to-date and capable of being applied in practice. To this end, The Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) invites the relevant units of the Federal Administration every two years to report on how they are applying the guidelines and to make proposals for any necessary adjustments to them. OFCOM compiles this feedback and uses it to identify possible action areas.

The measure is intended to provide people with an accessible introduction to potential dangers in everyday life online.

The Stories from Everyday Digital Life comic aims to reach children and youth, as well as the trusted adults in their lives who are supporting them as they go online. The stories follow the relatable Websters, a fictional family whose experiences help to raise awareness of a multitude of potential problems in life online. Twelve new stories will be published in print and online in Q4 2022 and introduced across various media in 2023. Preparations for a new series of Stories from Everyday Digital Life will also begin in 2023, with publication planned for 2024.

The project advances Digital Switzerland because although young people are typically beginning to use ICT services at increasingly earlier ages, there still is not much material designed for children and youth to raise awareness of the associated risks.

The Stop Hate Speech project was launched in 2018 by alliance F, the umbrella organisation of Swiss women's organisations (phase 1). It combines civil society engagement with technical approaches to develop and implement effective means against online hate speech. Since 2020, the Immigration Policy Lab at ETH Zurich and the Digital Democracy Lab at the University of Zurich have been providing the project with technological and scientific support (phase 2). The product is currently the most accurate algorithm in the German-speaking world for the automated detection of hate speech online. This enables a well-founded, quantitative assessment of the extent of the problem, which provides a basis for developing scalable countermeasures. Initial field experiments show positive effects of certain forms of ‘counter-speech’ - the targeted response to hate speech on the internet by people from civil society. In phase 3, which is now beginning, these approaches will be further deepened, and the project will deal even more holistically with strengthening public discourse online: in addition to combating hate speech, approaches will also be developed to promote particularly valuable online contributions.

The SCION secure internet architecture (Scalability, Control, and Isolation On Next-Generation Networks) has been in development at ETH Zurich since 2013 and has now reached an advanced state of development and maturity. SCION offers enhanced security, availability and performance for all networked systems and services. With a SCION connection from a communication provider, it is possible to achieve highly available communication with all other participants via public and heterogeneous networks, comparable to the security offered by closed networks. In view of the large number of new functions, SCION - compared to the current Internet backbone - represents a quantum leap in technological innovation and security for all users.

SCION improves security and performance in important use cases: these include the transmission of sensitive data (e.g. electronic patient files) or large amounts of data that are processed and stored, for example, in the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS). ETH-wide implementation will also create a platform for a new type of cutting-edge research in the areas of networking and security that is not possible on today's Internet. Thanks to its maturity, the SCION infrastructure can be implemented on a large scale.

The technology has been in productive use since 2017 and has since been intensively tested and analysed. SCION is the technology basis for the Secure Swiss Finance Network (SSFN), which ensures communication between financial market participants for Swiss Interbank Clearing (SIC) transactions. Other use cases include connections to cloud services and communication between armasuisse’s cyber defence (CYD) campuses.

The goal is to introduce coordinated vulnerability disclosure in systems. This measure aims to enhance the security of hardware and software. The primary focus is on strengthening cybersecurity. This should be achieved by identifying security vulnerabilities at an early stage.

This benefits Digital Switzerland by increasing security in the infrastructures.

Cyberattacks on critical infrastructures must be reported. This measure aims to enable early warnings and threat assessments. The primary focus is on strengthening information exchange. This should be achieved by implementing the mandatory reporting requirement.

This benefits Digital Switzerland by allowing threats to be detected earlier and assessed more effectively.

The public and businesses are informed about cyber threats and possible protective measures.

The primary focus is on protection against cyber threats. This should be achieved by educating the public and businesses on how to handle cyber threats.

This benefits Digital Switzerland by strengthening the self-protection of all stakeholders.

SwissGPT is an alternative to the GPT portals widely used in Switzerland that are predominently operated from the USA or China and unregulated. SwissGPT originates entirely from Switzerland, is operated in its own data centres and meets all data protection requirements. The solution is independent of Microsoft or other US or Chinese providers and meets the highest data protection requirements, offering demonstrable efficiency gains and cost savings in the government and healthcare sectors and is operated by Switzerland's leading AI institutions. 

Switzerland is strengthening the cyber resilience of the actors of international Geneva through various initiatives (courses, establishment of the International Geneva Cybersecurity Centre, etc.).

Secure data centres and cloud infrastructures are of central importance to the actors of international Geneva. Switzerland is committed to ensuring that the necessary technical infrastructure can be developed and that services are available that meet the needs of the actors of international Geneva.

Switzerland has an interest in attracting key international players in the digital sector, particularly those involved in the internet, to Geneva. In doing so, it is expanding the ecosystem of Digital International Geneva and helping to strengthen Geneva as a hub for digital governance.