Switzerland is one of the leading countries in computer applications. Many of these applications are embedded in top products or services of Switzerland's key industries (e.g. banks, insurances, telecommunication, power systems, chemistry, watches, transportation, tourism etc.). In all such enterprises interdisciplinary research and development ranks high and is heavily based on information technology (IT).
Strategy of the Federal Council for an Information Society in Switzerland, January 2006
The Federal Council wishes to exploit the opportunities offered by the use of information and communication technologies ICT have the potential to extend the capabilities and communication possibilities of people, businesses and institutions.
The principles defied in the strategy includes;
Access for All: All the inhabitants of Switzerland are part of the information society and have equal and unimpeded access to ICT in order to make use of them in accordance with their private and professional needs. In the process, consideration is given to the needs of potentially disadvantaged groups within the population. In particular, the Confederation promotes measures to ensure gender equality.
Empowerment for All: Using ICT technology and content of is one of the basic skills of everyday life. Members of society must be empowered to use the available media for searching and compiling information, for forming opinions and for independently expressing their own opinions. This entails lifelong learning for everyone.
Acceptance: The development of the information society presupposes trust in the new ICTs. The prerequisites for this confidence-building are a responsible relationship with the new technologies by all users, the guarantee of basic and human rights, and enforcement of the law. The regulatory framework must take into consideration the particular features of the new ICTs and this must be agreed internationally. Self-regulation takes precedence over state regulation.
The strategy is being implemented in the competent departments and offices. An Interdepartmental Information Society Committee (IISC) is coordinating the work in accordance with a mandate from the Federal Council.
An e-Inclusion network composed of members from public administrations and NGOs (working mostly in the fields of cultural diversity, equality for the handicapped and with senior citizens) is drafting an e-Inclusion action plan until mid-2007.
Since 1998 when the Federal Government first agreed on an Information Society Strategy, principles like “Access for all to ICT” and “Empowerment for All to use ICT” were promoted. No separate e- inclusion strategy has been adopted so far.
Switzerland hosted the World Summit of the Information Society 2003 in Geneva (WSIS) where the global digital divide was discussed and agreed to the Geneva Declaration and Action Plan, as well as to the activities which followed the WSIS 2005 in Tunis and back in Geneva just in 2010.
A number of specific targets12 have been set to monitor the implementation of this basic orientation and principles, among them are:
(1) Every local community has at least one internet connection that is publicly accessible by 2007;
(2) User quota of the internet by women, elderly people and those with a low educational background is doubled by 2008;
(3) Compulsory internet standards for the benefit of all, including handicapped people, are defined;
(4) All primary and secondary schools have access to the internet by 2008;
(5) All teachers are trained to use ICTs in education by 2008.
Policies of Telecommunication and Internet - Stage 4
The following policy framework that has been set up: “The federal authorities ensure a sufficient and affordable basic supply of post and teleservices in all regions of the country. The tariffs will be laid down according to uniform principles” (Federal Constitution §92.2). In the law on telecommunication (“Fernmeldegesetz”) of April 199742 this statement is reinforced. There should be a reliable and affordable basic supply of teleservice for the whole population in all parts of the country, allowing an effective competition by doing so (§1.2). Sections 14 to 21 of this law and §16 to §35 of the ordinance on telecommunication services (“Verordnung über Fernmeldedienste”43) define the public service supply more precisely. The public service suppliers have to guarantee, among others things, the following services:
-- access to a network that facilitates national and international real time phone calls, as well as telefax and data connections with an adequate transfer rate for internet access;
-- Maintenance of a defined number of public phones per community;
--The most important factor is universal access to an efficient network.
Important policies in place
Public-private Partnership School on the Net: http://www.ppp-sin.ch/dyn/1916.asp?lang=fr the aim of the program is to provide a suitable ICT-infrastructure to all schools in Switzerland and empower the teaching staff to use ICT in the classroom. This programme, is jointly financed by public and private actors in Switzerland.
Actions to support ICT& Ageing
No federal institution undertakes any major actions to promote ICT usage among the elderly. Likewise, questions like using ICT to obtain a more satisfactory life/work balance for older workers or to prolong working life are not in the political discussion at present.
- Individual actions to raise awareness to the problems of ICT usage by the elderly and to help senior citizens with their various questions took place in the past. They were initiated by different actors and did not follow a general strategy
- Institutions working with the elderly like the association Pro Senectute promote ICT usage through special courses and attractive content on the web.
- A semi-private network of computer centers for the elderly has been established, the so- called “computerias”, where people can take part in a computer or internet course as well as meet others. Internet users - 50 years of age and older are considered as the computeria network.
Several companies have been sponsoring by far the least active group in the WWW in Switzerland. In
2006, about 37% of persons in this age group used internet regularly several times per week.
Status of Common access to electronic content and services
ICT Infrastructure and broadband penetration are very high in Switzerland. This is even the case for rural areas. By the end of 2005, 98% of the Swiss population had the possibility to use a broadband access (ADSL and cable modem). Some 23% of the population used broadband services at the end of 2005.
Example of Privacy Statement for SWISS Airlines
The Swiss government's privacy laws are amongst the top rated laws in the world and are subject to the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection Act (DPA).
As an example, the SWISS Airlines have created the following privacy statement in order to demonstrate their firm commitment to privacy. The following discloses the information gathering and dissemination practices for their websites.
"When you make a registration, the system requires Users to give contact information such as name and e-mail addresses and in some cases partial or full postal address or telephone number. This information is used to contact you with company, product or other information we deem to be of interest to registered Users. We may also require unique identifiers such as Swiss TravelClub numbers to verify your identity and for use as account numbers in our record system. Statistical and profile data is also collected at the site and is used to tailor the site and product offerings to the User.
We also use information you are providing as part of the reservation process to customize the content of our site to meet your specific needs to make product improvements to the website of SWISS.
Upon the request of the authorities of certain countries, specific travel data related to your travelling to and from such countries may have to be transferred to such authorities for security and immigration purposes. You authorize us to transfer to such authorities for the above-mentioned purposes so-called Passenger Name Record (PNR) data, to the extent that such information is available, such as your full name, date of birth, complete home address, contact telephone numbers, information on your travel partners, date of reservation / ticket issuance and of intended travel, all forms of payment information, your travel status and travel itinerary, Frequent Flyer Number, information concerning your bags, all historical changes to the PNR et cetera. You are aware that this data could be transferred to countries where the data protection is not equivalent to that provided under Swiss law.
We do not sell individual customer names or other private profile information to third parties. We do share User information with our partners only for specific and pertinent promotional use.
Our site provides Users the opportunity to opt-out of receiving communications from us at the point where we request information about the visitor.
The site gives Users the possibility for removing their information from our database neither to receive future communications from us nor to use our service longer. You can unregister yourself for our promotional emails on our website in your profile."
