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?
Rhine could warm by up to 4°C by 2100, scientists warn
This content was published on
The water temperature of the Rhine River could rise by up to 4.2° degrees Celsius by the end of the century due to the warming planet, scientists warn.
This content was published on
The Federal Council wants to explore the possibilities of joining the European Union’s €800-billion rearmament programme without compromising Swiss neutrality.
Defence Minister Pfister stresses importance of Swiss mission in Balkans
This content was published on
During a visit to the Balkans region last week, Swiss Defence Minister Martin Pfister met Swisscoy peacekeeping troops in Kosovo.
Premiere for Swiss Air Force on French National Day
This content was published on
On July 14, the Swiss Air Force will take part in the traditional air parade in Paris to mark the French bank holidays with an F/A-18 fighter jet. This is a first for Switzerland.
Swiss launch competition for memorial to Nazi victims
This content was published on
The victims of Nazi Germany are to be commemorated on the Casinoterrasse in Bern. A competition will be held to determine what the site will look like.
This content was published on
The cantonal police of Graubünden in eastern Switzerland have arrested and convicted five cocaine dealers in Chur within a week.
This content was published on
The Swiss business umbrella organisation Economiesuisse and the employers' association broadly support the package of agreements negotiated with the European Union.
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.