“Digitalization requires the trust of the population”

Federal Councilor Simonetta Sommaruga spoke of the growing importance of democratic control over resident data in Switzerland

At the meeting of the "Digital Switzerland" advisory committee on 13 April 2022, the Federal Councilor Simonetta Sommaruga emphasized the importance of promoting digital self-determination through trusted data rooms.
Together with Federal Chancellor Walter Thurnherr, he discussed pioneering use of data with experts from science, business, civil society and politics.
“Democratic control over our data is crucial”, explained the head of the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications at the meeting on digitization.

Participants at the 'Digital Switzerland' advisory board meeting on 13 April 2022 (in German)

“Too often, nowadays, in order to use an App we have no choice”

Using data can make our lives easier. Data can, for example, allow us to make better use of infrastructure and resources in the areas of mobility as well as energy, education and finance.
However, this potential is not yet fully exploited in Switzerland today. The reason lies in the fear of losing control over the data.
“Too often today we have no choice: in order to use an App or a search engine we have to completely give up control over our data”, said the member of the Swiss government at the meeting. And it's a worrying situation.

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“We need everyone's help to define the rules for our data rooms”

During the discussion, the head of DETEC, Federal Chancellor Walter Thurnherr and the experts agreed on the need to strengthen the population's confidence in data protection.
“Democratic control over our data is crucial”, said Simonetta Sommaruga.
“We need to be able to help define the rules for our data rooms.”
This requires new forms of cooperation. And the participation of all actors is needed: the state, businesses and citizens.
The Federal Councilor added that Switzerland must also be innovative in its cooperation with international and, above all, European partners and must develop partnerships that are beneficial to all parties involved, thus creating reliable data rooms.
With this in mind, the Federal Council decided on 30 March 2022 to draw up a voluntary code of conduct for the operation of reliable data rooms by June 2023, with the involvement of all interested parties.

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The meetings of the “Digital Switzerland” advisory board serve for exchanges between members of the Federal Council and representatives of business, science, politics, authorities and civil society on digitalisation topics.
The meetings are held several times a year with a variable composition, each time chaired by a member of the Federal Council.
These meetings complement the Federal Council delegation "Digitalization and ICT".
The meetings are organized by the Digital Transformation and ICT Governance (TDT) Sector of the Federal Chancellery.

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