Increased research work on the electronic identity of the Swiss Confederation
The Federal Office for Defence Procurement armasuisse and the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) are combining their expertise to systematically advance key issues of security and data protection regarding the new electronic identity of the Swiss Confederation (e-ID). In this context, the Cyber-Defence Campus (CYD Campus) of armasuisse Science and Technology (S+T) is supporting increased research cooperation. The focus is on examining innovative technologies for a particularly privacy-friendly digital identity between 2026 and 2029.
The research cooperation between armasuisse and the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) is systematically strengthening the security and data protection of the Swiss electronic identity (e-ID), in particular by using the latest cryptographic procedures. The Cyber-Defence Campus (CYD Campus) of armasuisse Science and Technology (S+T) forms an important interface here between the Federal Administration and the Swiss research environment. Established research programmes of the CYD Campus enable scientific expertise to be transposed quickly into application-oriented security solutions for the Swiss e-ID. One particular focus is on the unlinkability, which enables the e-ID to be used without creating usage profiles that can be traced from it.
On 6 December 2024, the Federal Council established the basic principles for technical implementation of the new e-ID of the Swiss Confederation. One key goal is to further strengthen data protection, particularly through what is known as unlinkability. The unlinkability ensures that various uses of the same e-ID do not correlate and cannot be aggregated into usage profiles. From the perspective of the reviewing bodies (such as federal offices, companies), the e-ID will already be unlinkable at the planned launch in 2026. Nevertheless, there is a need for further research in this area. At the same time, the post-quantum technology will be systematically strengthened to safeguard the e-ID from future threats in the long term. The close cooperation between Federal Administration, research institutions and technology partners will also lead to the creation of an ecosystem conducive to innovation which develops practical and future-proof solutions for digital government services.
Research project
In order to implement these and other security-relevant innovations quickly, the Swiss Confederation will make research resources available. The new agreement between armasuisse and the FOJ will regulate the allocation of these funds from 2026 up to the end of 2029 at the latest. Research projects in the areas of unlinkability, zero knowledge proofs, post-quantum cryptography, non-deniability, trust management as well as the safe revocation of proofs will be strengthened.
The project “Quantum-Resilient Swiss e-ID” marks the start of this action, in cooperation with the School of Business and Engineering Vaud (HEIG-VD), a higher education institution of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland (HES-SO). From 2026, the project employees will analyse the existing e-ID technology stack, examine the impact of post-quantum-secure procedures based on scenarios and develop a demonstrator for a quantum-secure e-ID architecture.
armasuisse S+T’s CYD Campus will play a key role here. Through the established research programmes and the CYD Fellowships, the CYD Campus will systematically perform a bridging function and enable scientific expertise to be transposed quickly into application-oriented security solutions for the Swiss e-ID.
Strategic control of the research cooperation will be carried out by an instituted e-ID research committee. Under the direction of Dr Martin Burkhart from armasuisse S+T, the research committee will review all the project proposals, release the respective funds for developing the e-ID if applicable and support the approved projects.
You can find an overview of the CYD Campus’ research work in the context of the e-ID via: GitHub - cyber-defence-campus/self-sovereign-identity: Research overview of self-sovereign-identity (SSI) activities