Swiss state enterprises joined the private sector to launch a digital passport today. Most of the financial muscle required for its development will be provided for by the financial market.
Today’s launch of the Swiss ID in Zurich was a show of force of the major players on the country’s financial market and the state enterprises of Switzerland.
Swiss Post, railway operator SBB, Swisscom, Credit Suisse, UBS, Raiffeisen, Zuercher Kantonalbank, SIX – a group of company executives befitting an enterprise the government is in the national interest.
Easy to Use in Switzerland and Abroad
The development of the ID will be in the hands of Swiss Sign Group, which will take up its work in January, 2018. The current CEO of the company, Markus Naef (pictured below), will be in charge of the work undertaken.
The companies want to make digital identities efficient, easy to issue and use and – last but not least – applicable both in Switzerland and abroad. The user of the Swiss ID will keep control over his data, while the state evidently keeps tabs on the use of the electronic passport as such. The group of companies made clear that there would be no commercial use of the data stored.
A 'Gift' to the Country
The investment envisaged by the participants will reach millions of francs in the «high double digits», money that the firms most likely won’t ever get back. The plan is for Swiss Sign to generate revenues in the single-digits starting in 2019.
The financial market, which holds a majority in the joint enterprise, seems to gift the country with a new identity. But the gift in the long run is a vital tool for the industry as well. And a bargaining chip in their fight against foreign Internet giants such as Amazon and Google.
