Now the Black Hole Audit Committee is taking on the military. As Blick made public, four letters could cost Switzerland dearly: PIGN. Behind these letters is a confidential IT project of the military.
It is essentially about cybersecurity in the Swiss military. And when it comes to our military, huge sums are soon at stake: the Swiss taxpayer would have to pay CHF 2.4 billion.
PIGN is on the table
Central to the project is the Swiss command network, which is intended to enable the authorities to continue to communicate even if the internet fails, for example in a war situation.
It is not clear whether there is a strong push for secrecy because the information is actually sensitive, or because costs are spiraling out of control.
The subcommittee of the National Audit Chamber (GKP), which is responsible for the DDPS, wants clarity on this: “I have taken note of the press release about the IT project, which would have major cost implications. The subject will be tabled by the GPK subcommittee of EDA/VBS”, promises Central National Councilor Nicolo Paganini (56). The St. Galler does not take into account that the person responsible for the project is his own federal councilor, Defense Minister Viola Amherd (60).
GPK’ers put pressure
“We determine within our subcommittee how exactly the project should be investigated,” explains Paganini. And here the pressure is high: “I request that we take a very close look at the IT project,” says GLP National Councilor Corina Gredig (35). SP alderman Fabian Molina (32), who, like Gredig, is on the responsible subcommittee, agrees with her request.
In addition, the subcommittee proposed, given the size of the project, to entrust the matter to the full Audit Committee. A subcommittee is often only told what exactly concerns them. In this case, only the area that the VBS affects, which is the defense.
Back and forth makes it difficult
But what should make the project so hugely expensive is a complicated process: the system must first be handed over to the experts of the Federal Bureau of Information Technology and Telecommunications (BIT), which is located in the Ministry of Finance (FDF). And this is exactly what the GPK subcommittee DDPS would no longer have access to. And a year later, according to Blick information, the preferred variant “Reducziun” should partially return the system to the military.
The GPK wants to know, among other things, whether this back and forth makes sense.