After federal authorities signed agreements last year with five international cloud service providers, the first load of data has been outsourced – from the national weather service.
This content was published on
2 minutes
swissinfo.ch/dos
MeteoSwiss is now storing “meteorological and climatological data” on a server based in Switzerland and operated by Amazon Web Services, the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper wrote on Sunday.
A spokeswoman for the weather service told the paper that the decision to shift the data was based on a desire for better reliability. It was also motivated by the issue of “significantly increased data volumes”, she said.
MeteoSwiss has thus become the first official Swiss body to take advantage of the deals – worth CHF110 million ($123 million) – finalised last year with Alibaba, Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle.
The decision by Swiss authorities to outsource a certain amount of data storage sparked attention when announced in 2021, notably due to the appearance of a Chinese firm (Alibaba) in the list and the absence of any Swiss provider. General security fears were also raised, including by the Swiss Data Protection Commissioner, who said some of his concerns had not been properly addressed during the tendering process.
The Federal Administrative Court also looked into a complaint brought by Google after it lost its bid to win a part of the contract. Google later dropped the appeal.
According to the NZZ am Sonntag, two other federal administration bodies are currently finalising the process of outsourcing data to the servers, while half a dozen others are examining the possibility of doing so.
Authorities previously said that the clouds would mainly be used to store public information “not in need of particular protection” – for example data which is already public. The NZZ am Sonntag writes that when it comes to the upload of “internal” information, i.e. non-public, the server in question must be physically located in Switzerland, even if operated by a US or Chinese firm.
More
More
Data centres account for 4% of Swiss electricity usage
This content was published on
Data centres are expanding rapidly in Switzerland, with such facilities already using more energy than the entire farming sector.
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
This content was published on
The Fête de l'Epouvantail (scarecrow festival) is celebrating its 30th anniversary and returns to Denens in canton Vaud for its seventh edition from July 10-20.
This content was published on
A 35-year-old man has died in a work accident at the valley station of the Heimwehfluh toboggan run in Matten near Interlaken, canton Bern.
This content was published on
The Swiss embassy in Tehran re-opened on Sunday after being closed on June 20 owing to the unstable situation in the country.
This content was published on
Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and her youngest daughter Princess Ariane attended the Netherlands' women's European Championship football match against Wales in Switzerland on Saturday.
Swiss want to better protect military airfields from spying
This content was published on
Swiss Defence Minister Martin Pfister says he wants to better protect Swiss military airfields against espionage activities.
Man charged with flying drone at women’s Euro 2025
This content was published on
A man flew a drone around the venue on Wednesday evening during the first match of the Women's EURO 2025 in St. Gallen. The 30-year-old violated the absolute ban on flying during match days. He was reported to the police.
More than 250 Swiss companies sign CO2 reduction initiative
This content was published on
A total of 257 companies from Switzerland have signed up to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). In doing so, they are committing to CO2 reduction targets that are compatible with the Paris Climate Agreement.
Swiss accident prevention group sees federal targets at risk
This content was published on
The Swiss government's target for accident figures is at risk, reckons Mario Cavegn, member of the executive board of the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention.
Feminicide: Swiss justice minister calls for electronic monitoring
This content was published on
Swiss Justice Minister Beat Jans has called for electronic monitoring and an ankle bracelet warning system for perpetrators of violence against women.
EU gives cold shoulder to Swiss weather forecasters
This content was published on
MeteoSwiss has been excluded from a futuristic European project to develop a virtual model of the Earth due to the tensions between Bern and Brussels.
Switzerland outlines digital foreign policy strategy
This content was published on
The four-year plan will also boost Geneva’s credentials as a centre for international digital governance, the government said on Wednesday. Geneva is already home to several global digital bodies that set international standards, such as the Internet SocietyExternal link, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANNExternal link) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITUExternal…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.