Scaled AI Education and Literacy

Building AI literacy, trust and practical skills across society, education and the workforce to enable confident and responsible AI adoption in Switzerland.

According to studies, just under half of the Swiss population actively uses AI. The aim is to empower the entire population to understand and use AI confidently and ethically, as well as to actively participate in debates and decision-making processes . This includes a better understanding of the opportunities offered by AI and a well-founded confidence in Switzerland’s digital future. Furthermore, AI education is to be embedded throughout the Swiss education system. This means education with and about AI, with a human-centred approach (human-AI co-thinking). In addition, the introduction of AI in SMEs and the further training of the workforce in the field of AI are to be accelerated. This will support the workforce in their lifelong learning with regard to AI.

Actions

The actions may either build on and strengthen existing initiatives or constitute new

Switzerland's public campaign for the responsible use of AI

A Swiss-wide AI literacy campaign to be launched in 2027 together with a broad alliance of stakeholders, aiming to reach 1 million people and empower the population to use AI responsibly.

Context (why)

AI literacy is essential for Switzerland's competitiveness, workforce readiness, and democratic resilience. Developing AI literacy among the Swiss population becomes critical to enable everyone to understand and use AI with confidence, and to make informed choices for their personal and professional lives. At the same time, it is important to foster a positive and constructive narrative around AI, highlighting its opportunities and benefits while openly addressing concerns, in order to build public trust and support a responsible digital transformation.

Objective

The campaign will

Empower people with the understanding and practical skills to use AI effectively, critically and autonomously in daily life
Promote responsible use of AI
Foster a positive narrative: shifting from fear to a culture of curiosity and openness

Key Elements

The campaign format will be built around four main pillars:

1) Content Hub (simple learning materials)

2) AI Challenge / National Dialogue

3) AI Ambassadors (grassroots multipliers)

4) Storytelling, visuals and communication

The Campaign will showcase and connect to existing initiatives and encourage new ones

Contributors

Target Group of the Action

General Public

Strengthen Swiss-wide AI Education and Literacy

Strengthen AI Education and Literacy in the education system at all levels, with a focus on human-AI co-thinking.

Context (why)

Need to support Swiss-wide AI education and literacy

Objective

Aligning and coordinating AI education across all educational levels

Supporting talent pipelines

Drive public dialogue on best practices around digitalization and AI in education

Building national platforms and connecting stakeholders across Switzerland

Key Elements

1. February 2nd 2027: Swiss-wide interdisciplinary STEM-congress as a first milestone towards national coordination of STEM and AI Education (lead SATW) at EPFL.

2. Continuous development of SAIROP (Swiss AI Research Overview Platform, operated by SATW, target group: public administration, research)

3. Continuous development of educamint (Plattform for STEM-activities; target group: teachers and parents.

Contributors

Target Group of the Action

EDK, educational decision-makers in cantons, politicians, SBFI incl.TBBK

PHs, FHs

Universities

STEM-Promotion network (civil society etc)

AI Skilling for Teachers

Practice-based, continuously evaluated AI skilling enables Swiss educators to teach with and about AI.

Context (why)

To support students effectively, teachers (at Sek I & II level, incl. Baccalaureate schools and in vocational education and training VET) need practical, pedagogically grounded AI competences.

The initiative follows a “from practice, for practice” approach: it is developed with teachers, based on real classroom needs, and focused on the meaningful use of AI in teaching and learning.

Objective

A national, bottom-up initiative supports teachers at Sek I & II level in developing

1. AI Literacy (education about AI)

2. Teaching and learning with AI (education with AI)

This is achieved through practical, evidence-informed upskilling, scalable across Switzerland.

Key Elements

Smartfeld EduLab: A practice-driven lab format, co-created with teachers from secondary level I and II and based on their real challenges, needs and classroom experiences

Outcomes include:

EduAI Summit 2026
Smartfeld EduAI Award
Webinars, workshops, self-study tools, guidelines etc. for EduAI Community, incl. peer learning

Contributors

Smartfeld (NPO) as lead organisation, together with supporting and implementation partners:

Incl. OST, HSG, Empa, PH SG Switzerland Innovation and more.

And national associated partners :

EPFL Learn, ProEdu, ETH AI Centre , Supsi, and more.

Target Group of the Action

Teachers (Sek I & II), researchers at Universities of Applied Science & Pedagogical Universities

Playbook for AI Adoption

Supporting Swiss SME in their AI adoption by educating SME leaders on key challenges and opportunities for their company and employees.

Context (why)

The Playbook was developed to enhance AI Adoption in SME, the backbone of Swiss economy (SECO), which could provide Switzerland with an annual economic boost of CHF 15 billion (Implement 2026).

Objective

Educate (SME) leaders and board members on AI Adoption and AI upskilling of workforce through workshops organized with regional distributors showcasing hands-on examples.

Key Elements

Fostering AI Adoption in SMEs is addressed by

Promotion of Playbook for AI Adoption (open access; Dt/ Eng.)
Events and workshops in collaboration with regional multipliers and contributors
Use grass-roots SME exchanges to improve support mechanisms in AI adoption for target groups.

Contributors

Target Group of the Action

SME leaders

SME board members

Certificate for Trustworthy AI Use

Professionals in ICT+ companies commit to an ethical AI use in their everyday work practice, certified by an industry-recognized microcredential.

Context (why)

Need for a microcredential on trustworthy AI use endorsed by different sectors and recognized by Swiss employers.

The microcredential provides a first step in lifelong learning process of AI upskilling of non-tech professionals.

Objective

A digitalswitzerland-endorsed AI microcredential empowers non-tech professionals to achieve AI fluency.

By institutionalizing trustworthy AI everyday work practices, it drives cross-sector alignment and operationalizes ethical standards beyond Swiss ICT sector.

Key Elements

1. Alignment w/key members and interested stakeholders on form and key skills addressed by microcredential

2. Define endorsement and promotion by digitalswitzerland

3. Evaluate potential link to AI Governance topic (sectoral codes of practice)

Contributors