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Digital Skills Gap in Switzerland and Ticino: a challenge to overcome

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In an increasingly digitized world, the digital skills gap is one of the main obstacles both to full social participation by citizens and to the economic competitiveness of businesses.

This issue affects both individuals - who struggle to access digital services - and companies, which face structural difficulties in adopting technologies like cloud computing or artificial intelligence.

Addressing this gap requires differentiated but coordinated strategies, as neglecting it could slow down innovation across the Swiss territory.

Digital citizenship: a matter of social equity

According to the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (source: Omnibus 2023), around 22% of the Swiss population has little to no basic digital skills; the 2024 Digital Barometer places this figure even higher, at 31%.

This isn’t just about a lack of familiarity with digital tools, it’s a real difficulty in using digital content and services to manage everyday tasks.

Digital illiteracy reveals itself in activities now considered essential: booking tickets, using online banking, accessing e-government services, casting informed votes, or simply staying in touch with others remotely.

Those most affected are often elderly individuals, people with lower income, or those with limited education. However, even so-called “digital natives” are not immune: frequent device usage doesn’t necessarily equate to actual competence.

The impact of this shortfall goes beyond the individual level. It results in reduced participation in social, cultural, and political life, and in a context of broad digital transformation, businesses are feeling the consequences too.

ICT Skills in Business: a brake on transformation

Companies are also increasingly facing a need for both basic and advanced digital skills.

In Ticino, for example, our recent research “Digital Transformation and Cloud Adoption 2024” shows that the lack of ICT expertise is considered one of the top obstacles to digital transformation. The shortage of qualified professionals affects the ability to innovate, adopt new technologies, and manage complex processes like cloud migration.

Beyond technical limitations, many organizations struggle with cultural and organizational misalignment: resistance to change, unstructured governance, and the lack of a consistent operating model reflect a shortage of digital leadership and strategic vision.

The consequences of the skills gap are tangible:

  • It slows down transformation projects
  • Reduces operational efficiency
  • Hinders data integration and the adoption of advanced models like multi-Cloud
  • Makes it harder to attract and retain talent.

All of this directly impacts business competitiveness, especially in a local economy like Ticino’s, where SMEs often lack internal resources to independently support innovation.

Toward an integrated strategy: training and collaboration

Digital skills can’t be tackled with isolated measures.

What’s needed is an integrated strategy combining:

  • investment in continuous training
  • innovation in organizational models
  • collaboration with external partners.

The Federal Council has already taken steps in this direction with the “Digital Switzerland” strategy, aimed at digitally empowering the population. Locally, there are adult basic education programs and sector-specific initiatives for professional upskilling.

On their side, companies, especially those beginning their digital journey, struggle to balance the need to develop internal skills with the urgency to launch projects that demand advanced expertise.

In this scenario, collaboration with technology partners for outsourcing specialist services becomes not only helpful but strategic.

Tinext Cloud’s Role: A Partner for Skills and Innovation

As the gap between supply and demand for skills grows, choosing the right technology partner becomes crucial.

Tinext Cloud positions itself as a trusted partner for Swiss businesses. With deep expertise in cloud solutions and digital transformation - ranging from data centers and modern applications to cybersecurity - Tinext Cloud supports companies with consulting services and managed solutions that help:

  • quickly bridge technical gaps
  • securely and efficiently support operations
  • train internal teams to develop long-term competencies.

For many businesses, relying on a skilled external partner means not only accelerating innovation, but also staying focused on their core business, without sacrificing control or quality.

This combination of operational support and skills development is a concrete lever for building sustainable digital capabilities and can foster meaningful cultural change within organizations over time.

https://cloud.tinext.com/en/solutions/outsource-your-processes.