With a Swiss Cloud, the Federal Council wants to secure Switzerland’s data sovereignty in the medium to long term. The departments, cantons and experts were consulted in order to clarify the need for and realisation of such a project in depth. In a first step, the need for a Swiss Cloud was analysed and in a second step the feasibility is to be examined. On 11 December 2020, the Federal Council was informed of the results of the needs analysis and published a communication on the subject.
The debate focused in particular on the question of whether the Swiss Cloud should be realised in the form of an independent infrastructure under public law. The consulted bodies and persons spoke out against such an implementation and supported the Swiss Cloud as a label for the secure use of cloud services, which requires certain requirements.
The Federal Council’s communication also comments on the criteria that must be met for the Swiss Cloud to achieve Swiss data sovereignty. In particular, it is important that the cloud is majority-owned by Switzerland, that there is no dependence on foreign groups and that data processing takes place exclusively in Switzerland.
Next, the Federal Council will turn its attention to concrete implementation possibilities. In particular, a certification system for cloud services will be examined and the legal framework conditions and problem areas analysed.
Sources
- https://www.admin.ch/gov/de/start/dokumentation/medienmitteilungen/bundesrat.msg-id-81573.html
- https://www.admin.ch/gov/de/start/dokumentation/medienmitteilungen.msg-id-78814.html
- https://www.isb.admin.ch/isb/de/home/themen/bundesarchitektur/schwerpunkte/cloud/swiss_cloud.html