Bern – The digital data and services of the Swiss Federal Agency of Topography, also known as swisstopo, were made available online free of charge on March 1. This is part of the Swiss strategy pertaining to transparency of administrative data. This move should additionally allow both private individuals and companies to develop new services.

As of now, all standard digital swisstopo products are accessible free of charge. With this move, the Swiss Federal Agency of Topography is aiming to ensure that digital maps, aerial images, landscape models and geological vector data are all “used, redistributed and reused”. This additionally includes commercial use cases, as swisstopo explains in a press release.

This data was made generally accessible following a resolution of the Federal Council, the Swiss federal government. The Federal Council is therefore pursuing the goal of an even wider use of geospatial information. In addition, this development forms part of the “Strategy for open administrative data in Switzerland 2019-2023”.

Engineers, architects, programmers and planners are all likely to have a particular interest in data of this kind, while access to official geodata will also be more straightforward for research and scientific purposes too, the press release explains further.

In this way, swisstopo is able to make a proactive contribution to innovation and economic growth, while at the same time supporting the digital transformation of Switzerland. The files are available in machine-readable form and can be easily integrated in digital processes.