E-Government Issues in Switzerland

Abstract

This short article gives an overview of e-government in Switzerland about 10 years after its introduction at the municipal, cantonal and federal levels. It outlines the technical and political difficulties recently encountered for the further development of online services at all levels and presents some good examples of what has been achieved so far. Opportunities for e-participation are also presented as a growing trend based on a few e-voting experiments at cantonal level. Since Switzerland is a multicultural country with four national languages, some of its e-government experiences and “lessons learned” can be useful in neighbouring countries with the same cultural background (i.e., Austria, France, Germany, and Italy).