The study combines qualitative and quantitative approaches and included experts from professional practice.
Firstly, answers were collected from semi-structured interviews. This led to the development of challenges and, ultimately, solutions. The experts evaluated each of these via an online survey. In a final workshop, experts discussed the proposed solutions and developed a guideline with measures, requirements and best practices for a modern digital administration in Switzerland. The main points are summarized here:
- Customer centricity: A resident focused administration is crucial for the success of projects. This process starts as early as the initial phase, with a focus on recording citizens’ needs and the active implementation of feedback mechanisms such as focus groups. Early test versions and flexible adaptations based on specific feedback help to develop user-friendly solutions. Customer centricity does not end upon completion of the project, but continues into the operational phase.
- Cooperation: Successful collaborative projects require clear cooperation structures and commitment. Secure funding and mutual trust are needed to effectively include different stakeholders. Formally structured cooperation committees support the achievement of objectives and promote awareness of joint project requirements.
- Subsidiarity: A strong vision and shared identity are essential for the success of federal projects. The cantons play a key role as mediators between the federal government and the municipalities. At the same time, a defined legal framework should formalize voluntary cooperation by ensuring its binding nature.
- Tallinn declaration and standards: Interoperability and the “once only” principle should be implemented at all levels in the digital age. “Digital by default” should be established as the standard practice both within and between authorities. “Digital first” is still the most viable option for communicating with the population in the short and medium term. Existing legal regulations must be adapted to facilitate data exchange and support national standards such as eCH. Open source approaches and shared platforms such as Decidim play an important role here.
- Funding and resources: Funding should come through advance payments from financially capable players. It is advisable to deploy interdisciplinary teams with specific expertise in order to ensure sustainable projects. Agile and open-ended methods are recommended as particularly suitable options for customer-centred management.
These specific measures are aimed at ensuring user-centered, efficient and federal digitization of the Swiss administration and they are available to cantons and municipalities. Swiss Post supports public administrations on their digitization journey with its digitization solutions and data security.
iGOV portal in the canton of Fribourg and ePost in the canton of Bern highlighted as use cases in the study
The study describes two use cases for Swiss Post. “Interface iGOV Portal” describes how Groupe T2i, a digitization specialist of Swiss Post, wants to improve the efficiency and user-friendliness of its digital administrative services in the canton of Fribourg by implementing the iGOV portal interface. Implementation is planned for the end of 2025, and regular feedback loops and usability tests will be performed to ensure user-friendliness.
The second use case, “BE-ePost”, describes the example of ePost in the canton of Bern. This project used a digital platform to modernize communication between the tax administration and taxpayers. This platform is based on the ePost app and enables digital delivery of tax documents. The objectives were to reduce administrative costs and paper consumption and to minimize the number of enquiries due to late or lost documents. The project was launched in 2023 and has increased efficiency and user satisfaction.
