Executive Summary

In Gros-Montana, fire safety inspections failed over several years – the reason was a faulty IT system called VsFire that the municipality used until 2022. After the responsible IT specialist left, critical data disappeared. The canton of Valais shifts responsibility to the municipalities. National Councilor Gerhard Andrei criticizes: Without federal standards and shared cloud infrastructure, digitization doesn't work. The case demonstrates a fundamental coordination deficit between the federal government, cantons, and municipalities.

Persons

Topics

  • Fire safety and IT failure
  • Federal digitization
  • Data responsibility in municipalities

Clarus Lead

The Valais municipality of Gros-Montana was unable to conduct reliable fire safety inspections over many years – because the self-developed IT solution VsFire collapsed. An IT specialist had developed the system in 2009 for Valais fire departments; when he attempted extortion in 2022 and the project was discontinued, inspection records disappeared. The Canton of Valais states that municipalities are responsible for data management – an answer that ignores the core of the problem: fragmented IT structures without federal standards.

Detailed Summary

The IT system VsFire was central to fire safety inspections in several Valais municipalities. After the developer's departure in 2022, the canton switched to the cloud solution Lodur. However, specialists stored VsFire data on an external server – the IT specialist refused to provide access codes. Technical security concerns meant the data could not be recovered. The canton argues this was a municipal responsibility.

National Councilor Andrei diagnoses a system failure: Throughout Switzerland, municipalities, cantons, and the federal government repeat identical digital processes without coordination. Hundreds of different software solutions create a "massive patchwork." Particularly critical: Municipalities often don't even know their software rights. The federal government therefore approved a sovereign cloud infrastructure with open-source standards for 250 million francs – parliament voted unanimously in favor. This would allow municipalities, cantons, and the federal government to operate their tools on federal infrastructure without external dependencies.

Andrei emphasizes: The size of providers is irrelevant. What matters is that the state – whether municipal, cantonal, or federal – maintains control over data and software. However, the cantons refuse to accept binding standards at the federal level. This prevents necessary interoperability and perpetuates chaos like in Gros-Montana.

Key Points

  • VsFire Failure: Dependence on a single individual led to the collapse of fire safety inspections in Gros-Montana
  • Responsibility Shifting: Canton defers data management to municipalities; both ignore structural digitization failure
  • Federal Solution Needed: Sovereign cloud infrastructure (250 million CHF) should replace fragmented systems – but requires binding standards

Critical Questions

  1. Data Quality & Source Validity: How could a single person manage control functions for over a decade without backup or redundancy standards existing? Who should have identified these risks earlier?

  2. Conflicts of Interest & Independence: Why didn't the Canton of Valais provide technical support or oversight when an IT specialist was operating the system that controls critical safety functions?

  3. Causality & Alternatives: Would a federal cloud infrastructure (as now planned) have prevented this error, or does the problem lie more in the lack of risk culture at the municipal/cantonal level?

  4. Implementation Feasibility: How will the federal government enforce cantons to agree on binding standards when they have resisted so far and demand autonomy?

  5. Side Effects of IT Reorganization: What costs and transition problems arise when municipalities must migrate their heterogeneous systems to a federal platform?

  6. Data Security During Reorganization: Are the old data (particularly lost inspection records) permanently lost or is there a chance to reconstruct them?

Source Directory

Primary Source: Regionaljournal Bern-Freiburg-Valais (SRF) – 10.02.2026 https://www.srf.ch/audio

Verification Status: ✓ 10.02.2026

This text was created with the assistance of an AI model. Editorial responsibility: clarus.news | Fact-checking: 10.02.2026