Federal government debates cutting reliance on IT providers
The Digital Switzerland Advisory Board discusses switching providers and reliable services. Binding review requirements already apply to new IT projects.
How authorities can reduce their digital dependencies was the subject of discussion at the Digital Switzerland Advisory Board (Beirat Digitale Schweiz) on 5 November 2026. Under the chairmanship of Martin Pfister, head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS), and with Federal Chancellor Viktor Rossi present, representatives from the cantons, business, academia and civil society discussed more control and better options for switching providers.
The official statement relies on cooperation rather than isolation. A fully self-sufficient Switzerland in the digital sphere would be neither realistic nor desirable. Partnerships with companies, universities and like-minded states are meant to enable additional offerings. Alongside the confidentiality of data, the availability of services and infrastructure was also debated.
The service must remain available even when things get difficult
According to the Federal Council's definition, digital sovereignty means the ability to control and act that the state needs in order to fulfil its tasks in the digital sphere. It is therefore not enough that unauthorised persons cannot read a file. The responsible authority must also be able to keep working with it when technical or political circumstances make previous operations difficult.
The Digital Switzerland Strategy 2026 therefore links the topic with resilience in a crisis. An interdepartmental working group is to keep an overview of the relevant projects, identify security and foreign-policy risks of digital resources and develop further measures. The strategy is binding for the federal administration; for other actors it serves as a frame of orientation.
New projects must document dependencies
A concrete requirement already exists for the central federal administration. Directive W012 has been in force since 1 January 2026. For relevant new IT projects, digital sovereignty must be assessed and taken into account. In project management, review points are envisaged at the individual milestones. The project management works through them; the client ensures that the results feed into decisions.
The assessment must be documented. In the case of risks or dependencies of major political or strategic scope, the client is to inform the federal Digitalisation Council (Digitalisierungsrat Bund). The council can then discuss the project.
However, the directive does not prescribe a retroactive rebuild of all existing systems. It applies to new projects initiated since it came into force. For projects already under way, its application is voluntary. It also requires a weighing of interests: independence and control stand alongside cost and economic efficiency, not above every other requirement.
Today's advisory board meeting is to be distinguished from this. It serves the exchange on digitalisation and replaces neither a procurement nor a decision on replacing a specific product.
Open software and shared infrastructure
One way to build alternatives is open source. Here the programme code is visible and may be used, further developed and passed on. The Federal Chancellery explicitly separates this from the information processed: open code does not make the official data stored in it public.
In the procurement of existing software, open and proprietary solutions are in principle to be treated as equivalent. For the publication of software that federal authorities develop themselves or commission, separate legal requirements apply. Responsibility for implementing them lies with the individual authorities.
The advisory board also pointed to the Sovereign Digital Switzerland network (Netzwerk Souveräne Digitale Schweiz). It connects public and private organisations and, according to its own account, aims to reduce dependence on manufacturers, promote open technologies and advance sovereignly operated infrastructures. The operational activities are carried out by the Institute Public Sector Transformation at Bern University of Applied Sciences.
Its fields of activity include cloud infrastructure and open AI technologies as well as office software. Participating authorities and companies exchange knowledge and experience. The network is thus an offer of cooperation, not proof that the entire administration can already work independently of individual providers.
The workplace pilot remains a limited test
The Federal Chancellery announced a concrete project on 2 September 2026: from the end of 2027, around 3000 selected employees should be able to use alternative workplace software in parallel with Microsoft 365. For the first phase it expects roughly 9 million francs. Central office functions such as email, calendar, documents and video conferencing are covered.
The preceding feasibility study with 172 test participants came out fundamentally positive for central standard processes but showed limits with large video conferences. There are also security clarifications, additional specialist knowledge and the connection of existing specialised applications. Whether a complete replacement will later be possible and sensible remains open. First, the planned alternative must hold its own in everyday use alongside the existing system.
Sources
- Confederation: advisory board meeting on digital sovereignty, 5 November 2026
- Federal Chancellery: programme for a sovereign workplace, 2 September 2026
- Federal Chancellery: Directive W012, scope, project reviews and transitional rules
- Federal Chancellery: PoC BOSS feasibility study and summary of results
- Federal Chancellery: Digital Switzerland Strategy 2026
- Federal Chancellery: open-source software and procurement
- Network SDS: orientation, organisation and fields of activity
- Title image: Victorgrigas, Wikimedia Foundation Servers-8055 03
- Article image: Zinneke, Federal Palace Bern 2015-06
- Licence for both images: CC BY-SA 3.0
