Digital Switzerland Advisory Board: Open source to be more strongly promoted
Bern, 01.12.2025 — The Digital Switzerland Advisory Board meeting on 1 December 2025 focused on discussing the opportunities and potential of using and publishing open source software. Participants agreed that open source is a central pillar of digital sovereignty and should be promoted even more strongly in the future. The meeting was chaired by Federal Chancellor Viktor Rossi.
To make better use of the added value and, in particular, reusability of open source software, it is essential to have an overview of existing solutions. To this end, the federal government has set up a central catalogue for open source software at opensource.admin.ch. This catalogue is continuously being expanded and is based on the international Standard for Public Code, which is also used by the EU.
The aim of the catalogue is to provide a growing collection of freely usable software and to develop it further in collaboration with the community of open source organisations and companies. The federal government is thus promoting transparency, efficiency and the reuse of software, in keeping with the principle of ‘public money, public code’.
A federal act committed to open source
The Swiss authorities are in a good position when it comes to open source. This is because, since the Federal Act on the Use of Electronic Means to Carry Out Official Tasks (EMOTA) came into force, they have had a legal regulation in place stipulating that software developed or commissioned by the federal government to perform its tasks must, in principle, be made public. This allows cantons, communes and other interested parties to use, further develop and pass on these solutions free of charge.
Currently, each federal authority is responsible for publishing its own source code. As part of the focus on open source, it was suggested that a central open source office be created. The aim would be to leverage synergies and provide departments and offices with technical support when publishing software, thereby reducing costs overall.
Open source as a doorway to greater digital sovereignty
Open source contributes significantly to a country's digital sovereignty. Widespread availability and the use of independently developed software solutions strengthen digital independence in the long term. To advance the Federal Administration's digital sovereignty, the Federal Chancellery has introduced the BOSS Proof of Concept – a practical feasibility study focused on office automation using open source software. This paves the way for an office automation environment with open source software, as both an emergency backup in the event of a possible failure of Microsoft 365, and for ongoing secure processing of documents containing sensitive content. Initial results and recommendations derived from them are expected mid-2026.
Digital Switzerland Advisory Board: Exchange on key issues in the field of digitalisation
At the Digital Switzerland Advisory Board meetings, members of the Federal Council and the Federal Chancellor exchange views with representatives from science, business, politics, public administration and civil society on topics related to digital transformation. The meetings take place several times a year with a changing line-up of participants and chaired by a member of the Federal Council or the Federal Chancellor. Every year, the Federal Council defines the key topics of the Digital Switzerland Strategy, and an advisory board meeting is held for each focus topic. The meetings are organised by the Federal Chancellery.
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