Goals of the DPSS agenda

Establishing a digital channel between the public and the administration

In Switzerland, there is currently no common basis for a secure digital channel for interaction between Swiss residents and the authorities. The available solutions cover only certain areas of government operations and are neither uniform nor linked. This makes interaction with the administration much more difficult.

The digital channel between the public and the administration should be established as a general basic service. Over the next few years, the public authorities will have to invest significantly in setting up the corresponding infrastructures. Swift consensus on standards is an important step.

Goal: The public and the administration have a digital channel with which they can use public services across authority boundaries. The requisite common standards, infrastructures and institutional bases are established nationwide by 2026.

Exploiting the potential for automation and simplification for businesses

The secure and seamless exchange of structured data between businesses and the authorities offers great potential for relieving the administrative burden for both sides, and for further increasing data quality and legal certainty. With the right infrastructure and good e-services, time-consuming administrative tasks can be performed at the click of a button.

Many of the necessary components already exist and are established within businesses and the administration. However, either the components are not yet interconnected (interoperable) or some individual foundations do not yet exist. Progress needs to be made in this regard over the coming years.

Goal: Ease the administrative burden on businesses through the automated exchange of data and interfaces with the administration. The requisite common standards, infrastructures and institutional bases are to be consistently rolled out across the country by 2026.

Establishing cross-authority digital identification

As regards electronic identification, Switzerland is well below the European average, despite improvements in the past year. A key prerequisite for more efficient electronic administrative processes and attractive digital public services for the public and businesses is thus lacking.

In the Confederation's view, the rejection of the eID Act at the beginning of 2021 does not constitute a rejection of an eID per se. Given its strategic importance for digital administration, a new draft solution capable of broad political acceptance and easy implementation at public authorities should be developed swiftly. Digital Public Services Switzerland supports the development of the new draft solution and is committed to the broad involvement of the three levels of government, as well as rapid implementation.

Goal: The secure, easy identification of persons and the organisation of access rights are possible and simplified across authorities. The requisite common standards, infrastructures and institutional bases are to be established nationwide and implemented at public authorities by 2026.

Establishing federal data management

The need for up-to-date data, and for exchanging it swiftly and securely, is constantly increasing. The Swiss data landscape therefore has a growing number of interfaces and the focus has shifted to the shared use of data.

Federal data management is the foundation for sustainable and transparent data usage. It forms the basis for more efficient administrative processes and user-friendly services, but requires technical and institutional harmonisation between the authorities at all levels of government. Politicians and administrations have recognised the need for action and have already launched various projects for that purpose. These efforts need to be coordinated, supported and accelerated. The focus is on refining the technical data exchange infrastructures and the bases for register management across authorities and topics (registers of residents, authorities, buildings and land, geodata, animals, etc.).

Goal: The technical, semantic and institutional bases for data management across all levels of government are established and implemented by the public authorities by 2026.

Establishing the institutional bases for cloud services in the administration

The use of cloud services has great potential. They offer huge potential synergies through the shared use or provision of services, and can support the bundling of resources and expertise. At the same time, however, this raises difficult questions regarding information security and data protection, the duty of confidentiality, criticality and sovereignty, which will need to be clarified transparently and for all three levels of government.

On the whole, administrations are uncertain about how to use cloud services, and in some cases there is a lack of resources for expanding expertise in these new technologies. For this reason, specific needs and corresponding institutional draft solutions should be evaluated and subsequently implemented. The earlier these questions can be clarified, the better the potential for synergies and savings can be exploited. In the process, the public administration's room for manoeuvre when dealing with IT providers can be bolstered. These efforts are a response to the Federal Council's instructions in the wake of the report on the Swiss cloud.

Goal: By 2026, the administrations have developed the institutional bases for implementing cloud services in compliance with the law, creating synergies and ensuring room for manoeuvre in dealing with IT service providers.