How Switzerland Became a Global Leader in FOSS

This talk examines how Switzerland, a neutral country known for its banking and chocolate, became a model for digital sovereignty, privacy-first technology and how Switzerland has strategically evolved into one of the most progressive adopters of Free and Open Source Softwares.

Unlike other nations where open-source adoption is fragmented or voluntary, Switzerland enforces it at the federal and cantonal levels, aided by organizations such as the Open Source Software Competence Center, which provides guidance, legal models, and maintenance support. The talk will explore the policies adopted by the country to become the global leader that it is in the FOSS sector.

It will discuss the architecture of the policies and legislative obligations that Switzerland has implemented in order to boost FOSS adoption. Policies such as "Public Money, Public Code," as well as the "Digital Switzerland" policy, demand that software built with public funds be open by default. It will showcase examples such as Open Justitia (judiciary transparency), Open Workbench (public ERP), and the Swiss Post's e-voting system, which were created on open-source foundations in conjunction with institutions such as ETH Zurich.

The talk shall also explore Switzerland's initiatives to establish sovereign infrastructure, such as AlpCloud, a FOSS-powered national cloud, ensure compliance with strict privacy rules while reducing reliance on foreign cloud providers. These initiatives are part of a bigger strategy that prioritizes citizen privacy, transparency, and long-term ownership over digital assets.

A comparison between Switzerland and the other nations that are actively trying to adopt FOSS will also be given.

1. How Switzerland turned FOSS into a national strategy

2. Policies and legal frameworks that support FOSS adoption in public services.

3. Coordinate of Swiss institutions across federal, cantonal, and municipal levels.

4. How public infrastructure like AlpCloud is built using open-source stacks.

5. Real examples of open-source platforms used in Swiss governance and public life.