Digital Switzerland Strategy
The Digital Switzerland Strategy sets the guidelines for Switzerland’s digital transformation. It is binding for the Federal Administration and serves as a guide for all other stakeholders involved in digitalisation.
Table of content
Vision
Switzerland consistently prioritises digital offerings for the benefit of everyone, regardless of gender, age or origin (digital first). It makes targeted use of the opportunities offered by sustainable digital transformation so that everyone benefits in the long run. Switzerland is one of the most digitally competitive and innovative countries in Europe.
Purpose
The aim is for the population as a whole to benefit from a digital transformation that is responsible and sustainable (ecologically, economically and socially). This is being driven forward jointly by the authorities at all federal levels, as well as by stakeholders from civil society, business, academia and politics. Gender equality is also taken into account.
The Federal Council identifies two or three focus themes to prioritise each year as a way of launching digital transformation topics. This focus is complemented by the action plan, with a webseite that provides an overview of activities in the area of digital transformation for the general public. In contrast to the annually changing focus themes, the vision and domains remain stable over several years.
The Digital Switzerland Strategy provides a overarching framework for the Digital Federal Administration Strategy, the Swiss eGovernment Strategy and various other sectoral strategies. It also helps Switzerland to achieve its climate and environmental goals and the sustainable development goals set out in the United Nations 2030 Agenda. Digitalisation remains the responsibility of all the specialist organisations which have the lead in implementing the measures.
Focus themes
The focus themes form the starting point for new measures and Federal Council mandates, insofar as they fall under a federal remit. They are the subject of the meetings of the Digital Switzerland Advisory Committee, chaired by a member of the Federal Council, in which experts discuss the topic in depth. The Federal Council determines the new focus themes annually. The lead departments are responsible for their implementation.
Digital sovereignty
The Federal Administration will increase its digital sovereignty and resilience in order to remain robust and effective during crises. The interdepartmental working group on digital sovereignty, which was set up by the Federal Council, will conduct a comprehensive review of the relevant work in public administration. It will identify the security and foreign policy risks arising from digital resources, and draw up relevant measures.
Lead: DDPS (State Secretariat for Security Policy), in collaboration with the Federal Chancellery
and the FDFA.
Digital host state
As a modern digital host state, Switzerland is in particular strengthening International Geneva and its stakeholders in the areas of cyber resilience, secure data centres and cloud infrastructure, and is working specifically to ensure that key digital players become part of International Geneva.
Lead: FDFA (Prosperity and Sustainability Division and Directorate of International Law).
Introduction of the digital identity card (e-ID)
The e-ID is a key component of Switzerland’s digital transformation. Its aim is to enable Swiss residents and Swiss nationals living abroad to identify themselves securely online. Its use is voluntary. The e-ID is issued by the federal government and can be used by authorities and companies.
Lead: FDJP (Federal Office of Justice).
Domains with indicators
The Digital Switzerland Strategy is structured around five long-term domains. These domains are based on the EU’s Digital Compass. Focus themes and measures are each assigned to a domain. This structure is intended to create a clear overview of activities that are important for a digital Switzerland. The Federal Council measures progress in each domain according to two indicators. The ten indicators were defined at the outset. They are reviewed on an ongoing basis and adjusted if necessary. Where possible, the values are compared against international benchmarks.
Education and skills
People, businesses and public authorities have sufficient skills to make the most of new technologies and are able to evaluate them critically.
Security and trust
People in Switzerland can move around safely in the digital environment; privacy is protected.
Framework conditions
Businesses and society can rely on a reliable and advantageous framework for the digital environment.
Infrastructure
Public authorities promote and operate reliable and resilient physical and digital infrastructure.
Digital public services
Public authorities offer their services digitally as standard (digital first); they are user oriented and barrier free.
Action plan
The action plan forms part of the Digital Switzerland Strategy. It defines the relevant measures and provides an overview of the status of their implementation. Measures are specific, time-limited programmes, projects or initiatives taken by internal or external stakeholders. They make a significant contribution to Switzerland’s digital transformation. Their progress is continuously updated by the lead stakeholders and published as an overview on www.digital.swiss.
Responsibilities and implementation
The Federal Chancellery’s Digital Transformation and ICT Steering Sector (DTI) is responsible for the ongoing development, coordination, communication and monitoring of the Digital Switzerland strategy. It draws up proposals for new focus themes each year in close cooperation with the departments. The respective lead stakeholders are responsible for implementing the individual measures and provide the DTI Sector with regular progress reports.