Switzerland launches tender for 7-billion-franc government cloud

The Swiss government published on Tuesday the tender for the Swiss Government Cloud, the new system meant to manage and store the digital data of the federal administration, cantons and municipalities. The project, run by the Federal Office of Information Technology, Systems and Telecommunication (FOITT), calls for spending of 7 billion francs over 14 years.

FOITT director Dirk Lindemann justified the move by pointing to the limits of the federal government's current IT infrastructure. He told Swiss broadcaster SRF: “Non si può costruire l'amministrazione di domani con la tecnologia di ieri” (“You cannot build tomorrow's administration with yesterday's technology”). Beyond responding to the growing digitalisation of public services, the project also aims to strengthen sovereignty over data.

Three levels, five providers

The system will be organised into three levels, chosen according to the sensitivity of the data involved. The “Global Reach” level covers low-sensitivity data, such as weather data, and allows storage abroad. The “Enhanced Data Governance” level covers information requiring higher security standards: processing and storage will have to take place in Switzerland, with the government favouring open-source technologies. The “On-Premise” level is reserved for the most sensitive data, such as tax or financial information, which will remain exclusively in the federal government's own data centres under the strictest security requirements.

To avoid depending on a single provider, the government plans to award contracts to five different companies: two for the first level, two for the second, one for the third. Applications are open until 18 December, and the awards are expected in the summer of 2027, provided the process is not delayed by appeals.

According to Matthias Stürmer, who researches digital sustainability at the University of Bern, the tender marks a shift from the past, when Switzerland relied mainly on large American platforms. The main novelty, he notes, is that the tender no longer excludes Swiss companies from the outset, as earlier procedures did by requiring an operational presence on several continents. Whether Swiss companies will be able to compete with groups such as Google, Microsoft or Amazon remains to be seen.

Rahel Estermann, co-director of the Digitale Gesellschaft association, welcomes the focus on digital sovereignty but warns of a concrete risk: the tender's financial requirements could prove too demanding for many Swiss companies, leaving the market once again dominated by large American operators. The issue is linked to the US Cloud Act, which allows American authorities to request access to data held by US companies regardless of where it is physically stored.

The new cloud will not be reserved for the federal government alone: cantons and municipalities will also be able to join on a voluntary basis, sharing infrastructure and security standards. It remains to be seen how far the investment, spread over 14 years, will translate into economies of scale for local authorities compared with commercial solutions already available on the market.