Linked Data concept within the Federal Administration

Linked Data offers the Federal Administration the opportunity to increase efficiency, transparency and collaboration. This concept explores the benefits, challenges and prospects of using Linked Data within the Federal Administration.

Thanks to Linked Data, the registers of companies, communes and citizens can be linked up to facilitate access to information and reduce redundancies. Citizens benefit from greater transparency thanks to open data portals providing access to data of the Federal Administration. The ability to link databases between different departments of the Federal Administration also fosters more active citizen participation. Linked Data facilitates better collaboration between different federal departments thanks to unified standards and formats. Moreover, Linked Open Data makes information accessible and comprehensible to citizens, while automated processing and data queries reduce processing times and minimise errors.

Linked Data

Linked Data is a technology that allows data to be easily related to each other in a universal form. It uses open standards such as RDF (Resource Description Framework) and URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) to represent and interconnect data of the most diverse subject areas and origins. This facilitates the interoperability and reuse of data across different systems and applications, improving the accessibility of available information.

Challenges and solutions

• Adopting Linked Data requires specialised technical skills. To meet this need, the Federal Administration is investing in training.
• Given that the security of sensitive data is a priority, access controls are essential to guarantee the confidentiality and security of information.
• Linked Data can help to overcome the challenges created by the New Management Model (NMM) based on performance indicators, while offering a perception of centralised information.

While the adoption of Linked Data may represent an initial challenge in terms of both investment and strategy, the potential benefits are considerable. Collaboration and transparency within the Federal Administration can be improved, making this technology an initiative worthy of attention and investment. In this way, Linked Data appears to be an ideal solution for making progress towards implementation of the NMM.

The use of Linked Data supports the digital transformation of the Federal Administration. Future applications could include personalised services and AI-enhanced data analysis. This would make it possible to develop a more citizen-oriented Federal Administration. In short, implementation of this technology offers an opportunity to modernise and improve public services.

Further Information

Documents

Linked Data concept within the Federal Administration (available in french) (PDF, 2 MB, 19.02.2025)

Links

Lindas - Linked Data Service

Portal opendata.swiss