In April 2026, a spokesperson from the Federal Chancellery of Switzerland announced that “The Federal administration [was] striving to gradually reduce its long-term dependence on proprietary software”.
Open source software has gained increasing attention from the Swiss government over the last few years, translating into a willingness to reduce reliance on foreign software providers.
Alexander Barclay, Head of Transformation and Interoperability at the Swiss Federal Administration, defines digital sovereignty as “the federal government being able to fulfil its essential mission without depending on an external supplier or country”.
Digital sovereignty has received particular attention over the recent months, with the formalisation of a set of "Guidelines for the digital sovereignty of the federal government” in December 2025. The six points listed provide a structured approach for all digital projects led by the Confederation, ultimately ensuring that the government has control over its information technology systems.
The principles complement the Federal Pact Law (LMETA) on the Use of Electronic Means for the Performance of the Tasks of Authorities, published back in 2023. LMETA specifically requires federal authorities to publish the source code of software they develop by default, the only exception being where third-party rights or security concerns arise.
Alexander Barclay highlights that “digital sovereignty is neither binary, nor a fixed-end state to reach. What we want is to ensure the creation of feasible solutions and systems for all ministries”. Open source is thus seen as an enabler of sovereignty "particularly because once you have access to the source code, you can keep the system running, even if a supplier walks away” says Barclay, linking back to the country’s desire to strengthen control over its IT systems.
An ongoing project at the federal level
The country is currently completing a proof of concept for an open source alternative solution for a proprietary workspace for 300 civil servants. The test will then be analysed with the results and findings published in a key report during the summer of 2026. The objective is clear: to focus on the efficiency of public service delivery and the confidentiality of the data, without disproportionately relying on one external supplier or country. The government’s goal is then to roll-out the solution to around 3,000 people across the federal administrations.
To move to more open source solutions, Alexander Barclay says that “we need to progressively build the skills, we aim for our staff to not only be users but to run and debug the software” so as to be able to develop IT projects within a community and foster interoperability. The argument when it comes to turning away from proprietary software and paid licenses cannot only be financial. Resilience also needs to come into the equation.
Switzerland in the European ecosystem
The Federal state is not making isolated decisions and has been closely monitoring the developments in France with LaSuite and DINUM’s recent announcement to switch to Linux, as well as Italy’s initiatives, particularly with the Developers Italia Catalogue and Germany’s ZenDis. Referring to the case of Schleswig-Holstein, Barclay says “there is a lot to be learned from public administrations that are on their way to the full switch, and we wish to develop a culture of testing, experimenting and sharing across public administrations”.
All in all, Alexander Barclay sees early-stage cross-border cooperation as essential for countries like Switzerland that are considering open source adoption strategies. He insists that “this is not a zero-sum game, we all benefit from it”. However, he continues, “ the legal foundation should always come first. The 2023 LMETA law applies the public money for public code principle, allowing us to go from an aspiration to an obligation”.
