Summary:
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New Law Enacted: Switzerland has passed the “Federal Law on the Use of Electronic Means for the Fulfillment of Government Tasks” (EMBAG), requiring all government software to be open-source. This law aims to make government operations more transparent, secure, and efficient.
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Decade-Long Journey: The push for this law started in 2011 when the Swiss Federal Supreme Court released its court application, Open Justitia, under an open-source license. After years of political and legal battles, the EMBAG was finally passed in 2023. The law requires the government to release the source code of its software unless there are third-party rights or security concerns.
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Broader Impact and Future Prospects: Professor Dr. Matthias Sturmer, head of the Institute for Public Sector Transformation at the Bern University of Applied Sciences, led the effort for this law. He believes it will benefit the government, IT industry, and society by reducing dependence on specific vendors, expanding business solutions, and lowering IT costs. The EMBAG also requires the release of non-personal and non-security-sensitive data as Open Government Data (OGD), promoting innovation and collaboration.
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