VSHN is a founding member of Zentrum SDS – Souveräne Digitale Schweiz
On April 28, 2026, the Zentrum SDS – Souveräne Digitale Schweiz officially launched its activities – and we at VSHN are very happy to be part of the founding members.
Together with 30 other organizations from government, business, and academia, we are sending a clear signal: digital sovereignty in Switzerland is no longer an abstract concept – it is actively being shaped. Participants include institutions such as Kommando Cyber, the Canton of Solothurn, the Office for IT and Organization of the Canton of Bern, the Statistical Office of the Canton of Basel-Stadt, Organization and Informatics (OIZ) of the City of Zurich, the SWITCH foundation, as well as many leading Swiss IT companies.
The announcement can also be read on netzwoche.
Why the Zentrum SDS matters
Digital sovereignty means maintaining control over data, technologies, and digital infrastructure – and consciously deciding which dependencies to accept. This is exactly where the Zentrum SDS comes in: it brings together key stakeholders to jointly develop solutions, define standards, and drive concrete alternatives forward.
In the coming months, members will collaborate across four key areas:
- Financing and procurement of Open Source technologies
- Sovereign workplace solutions such as openDesk
- Swiss cloud offerings
- Open Source-based AI platforms
The initiative was launched by the Institut Public Sector Transformation at the Berner Fachhochschule. Thanks to the contributions of its members, the collaboration can be structured effectively and developed sustainably over time.
Open Source as a key to sovereignty
A central pillar is the use of Open Source technologies. They enable transparency, control, and independence – exactly the qualities required for a sovereign digital infrastructure.
The growing international importance of this topic is reflected in the close collaboration with Germany. There is active exchange with the Zentrum für Digitale Souveränität der Öffentlichen Verwaltung (ZenDis), which is involved in the development of openDesk.
A highlight in this context is the TRANSFORM conference 2026 on May 5, 2026 in Bern. There, Dirk Schrödter will demonstrate how Open Source concretely contributes to digital sovereignty. The program is complemented by international perspectives on Digital Public Goods and insights into the role of the state in digital infrastructure.
Servala – Sovereign App Store as a cloud-agnostic marketplace
With Servala, we at VSHN are taking this idea one step further. Servala connects providers, partners, and enterprises through a cloud-agnostic marketplace, making sovereign, standardized services easy to consume. Instead of locking into a single cloud provider early on, Servala enables real choice – based on open standards and interoperable services.
In the context of the Zentrum SDS, we see strong potential here: a shared ecosystem where services are available across different providers strengthens not only sovereignty, but also innovation and collaboration across the entire market.
Our perspective at VSHN
For us, participating in the Zentrum SDS is a natural next step. For years, we have been building on Open Source, open standards, and collaborative ecosystems – whether operating Kubernetes platforms, developing platforms like APPUiO, or driving initiatives like Servala.
Digital sovereignty does not emerge through isolation, but through collaboration on equal footing. This is exactly what the Zentrum SDS enables: a shared foundation on which innovation, security, and independence can grow together.
We look forward to actively shaping this journey.
Markus Speth
Marketing, Communications, People