Uri cantonal parliament Uri parliament rejects Uri Informatik AG to the government
On Wednesday, the cantonal parliament of Uri rejected a proposal for cooperation between the canton and the municipalities in the areas of IT and e-government. It spoke out in favor of a joint IT operation, but demanded alternatives to a public limited company from the government.
25.09.2024, 09:19
SDA
The IT and e-government strategy of the canton of Uri provides for the canton, municipalities and schools to pool their IT resources in future in order to reduce costs and increase efficiency. This requires a common basic infrastructure and corresponding legal foundations.
The resources are to be brought together in the form of a joint organization - Uri Informatik AG. In future, the canton, municipalities and schools are to obtain their basic IT requirements from this company.
The request for rejection was submitted by the Finance Commission (Fiko). It criticized the fact that the government had opted for a public limited company without examining the options. The Fiko's main criticism was that political influence would be lost through a public limited company.
Lack of political influence
All parties were of the opinion that a public limited company was the wrong legal form for a joint IT operation. Outsourcing responsibility to an external organization would eliminate the political processes, said Sylvia Läubli (SP).
Walter Baumann (SVP) feared that a public limited company would create a large "administrative apparatus" that would increase the number of staff. Flavio Gisler (center) feared a large increase in costs that would be beyond the control of the district council. "The additional costs would then be borne by the canton and the municipalities."
Other frequently cited arguments were the competitive relationship between Uri Informatik AG and private-sector companies and the "compulsory connection". The center put forward the motion to dispense with a compulsory connection. Marcel Jauch (center) said that this would not impose anything on the organizations and would not put the companies at a competitive disadvantage.
"The time of IT lone wolves is over"
Government councillor Urs Janett (FDP) said that the days of IT lone wolves in Uri and elsewhere were over. He confirmed that the new AG would compete with the private sector. However, the bill was about the economic and efficient use of taxpayers' money.
If the district council took over the overall supervision of IT, the municipalities would no longer have any say. "However, the municipalities were in favour of an organization where they can have a say on an equal footing with the canton."
Parliament approved the rejection motion by 54 votes to 7. The government will have to go back to the drawing board.
