1 Background 1.1 Postulate 17.3789 The Federal Council is publishing this strategy in response to postulate 17.3789, which was submitted on 28 September 2017 by former Member of the National Council Claude Béglé. It mandates the Federal Council to examine “how Switzerland could become the global epicentre of international governance in the area of cyberspace”. The postulate also suggests the creation of a type of Geneva Convention for digitalisation and the foundation of a neutral organisation in Geneva, which could be responsible for its implementation. On 8 December 2017, the Federal Council proposed that the postulate be adopted, indicating that the idea of a ‘Geneva Digital Convention’ would be met with great scepticism by most stakeholders and be almost impossible to implement. The Federal Council also announced that it would be willing to issue a report setting out Switzerland’s priorities in the areas of international cybersecurity and digital governance. The National Council adopted the postulate on 15 March 2018 by 113 votes to 78. 1.2 Focus of the strategy Since the postulate was adopted, digitalisation has progressed rapidly, permeating and changing politics, the economy and society as a whole. These digital advances present many opportunities, but also bring with them new challenges and issues. The global COVID-19 crisis has highlighted that while new digital technologies can help us better understand and contain the spread of a pandemic, for example through the use of digital contact tracing, and while they underscore the importance of issues relating to technical standardisation and cross-border cooperation, these technologies also raise a number of questions, for example about application security and data protection. The Federal Council has taken into account the growing significance of digitalisation, having placed greater emphasis on this topic in its legislative programme for 2019-23. The need for the Federal Council’s political agenda to now take advantage of the many opportunities presented by digitalisation was set out in the corresponding guidelines. Alongside peace and security, prosperity and sustainability, digitalisation is a new thematic foreign policy focus in the Foreign Policy Strategy 2020-23. The Federal Council's ‘Digital Switzerland’ Strategy of September 2020 sets out the guidelines for government action with regard to digitalisation and indicates where and how authorities, business, science, civil society and politics must work together in order to jointly shape the transformation process for the benefit of all. A number of other baseline documents related to digitalisation have been adopted in recent years. These include the National strategy for the protection of Switzerland against cyber risks for 2018-22, the International Cooperation Strategy 2021-24 as well as the measures to strengthen Switzerland's role as a host state during the 2020-23 period." In the Federal Council's 2019 Foreign Economic Policy Report, the featured topic was also devoted to ‘Digitalisation and foreign trade’.? Key events have also since taken place on an international level. The UN secretary-general, for example, placed the subject high on the international agenda by convening a High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation to report on the topic. The report, to which former Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard contributed as a panellist, contained key recommendations on how to advance global digital cooperation. On 10 June 2020, the UN secretary-general presented a roadmap based on this report, which set out the next practical steps to implement these recommendations. It focuses on improving internet access around the world, greater capacity-building in developing countries, protecting human rights, improving cybersecurity and promoting inclusive governance models.? 1 2 See Annex 3. See ‘Digitalisation and foreign trade’, featured topic of the Federal Council's 2019 Foreign Economic Policy Report, published 15 January 2020, SR 20.008 (executive summary and featured topic available in English). 3 UN Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation Background 1