The Swiss Federal Council wants that the potential of data is used more effectively. The Federal Council thus wants that it is possible to use data in a reliable manner to advance society, research, and the economy. Additionally, enhanced data multiplication ought to bolster Switzerland’s capacity to respond to crises. On its meeting on 8 December 2023, the Federal Council thus adopted a corresponding set of measures and issued several mandates.

According to the Federal Council’s press release, there are enormous opportunities for society, the economy, science, and administrations through the linking of data. Nevertheless, unauthorised linking would facilitate its misuse and infringe upon the privacy rights of those impacted. As a result, the Federal Council intends to establish data spaces for a variety of industries (including foreign policy, agriculture, health, energy, and tourism) and regulate the data’s usage.

The federal government intends to prevent so-called silo structures, in which data is confined to a single location, through the data ecosystem. The greatest value is produced by data that can be combined and utilised for an extensive range of purposes. Therefore, data spaces shall be designed to be interoperable. According to the Federal Council, this facilitates effective collaboration across various sectors and subject areas. Potential applications might occur in education, tourism, and migration domains to obtain pertinent insights that can inform the development and execution of strategies aimed at addressing the scarcity of skilled labour in the hospitality sector.

In pursuit of this objective, the Federal Council intends to establish and sustainably promote a Swiss data ecosystem. Such Swiss data ecosystem shall comprise reliable data spaces that are interconnected in accordance with well-defined protocols. To implement this, the Federal Council has decided on several measures: i) The Federal Department of Justice and Police is to develop a legal basis for the secondary use of data and submit the consultation draft to the Federal Council by the end of 2026, ii) the approval of a code of conduct, which is considered a recommendation for the federal administration and is not legally binding, but is available to other actors from the private sector, science, civil society and business for guidance and for signing, and iii) the establishment of a central point of contact for the Swiss data ecosystem.