Stakeholders’ letter

Dear Readers

When referring to our country’s excellent economic performance and political stability, Switzerland is often deemed an “exceptional case”. But Switzerland is exceptional in other respects as well, as illustrated by the latest rankings awarded by the Digital Access Index, which measures access to information and communication technologies in different countries. Of the 157 countries using digitisation to increase sustainability, Switzerland ranks an impressive number eight. How much did Swisscom, as the leading telecommunications enterprise and one of the leading IT companies in Switzerland, contribute to this result? What do you think? Can we take credit for a small part of this? If not today, then definitely tomorrow! During the reporting year, we gave intensive consideration to the relationship between digitisation and sustainability and made it our goal to become even better at what we already do well and to become really good at what we are not yet so good at. Internal staff as well as external partners helped us identify the key levers in Swisscom’s sustainability system and use them effectively.

The outcome of this critical self-assessment undertaken with the assistance of external partners was a positive one. Namely, it showed us that we are on the right track. You, our stakeholders and the public at large all want Swisscom to be actively committed to climate protection and energy efficiency, media competency and security, quality of life and work, a fair supply chain and a networked Switzerland.

Your expectations motivate us to achieve even more. We are not afraid to say that we can do better and more fully realise our potential in the following areas:

Climate protection – by offering flexible working options, services delivered from our energy-efficient data centres and remote monitoring and optimisation of vehicles and buildings via machine-to-machine connections.
Being a responsible employer – by training around 1,000 apprentices, enhancing the employability of our staff, including people with impairments and promoting staff involvement in our Corporate Volunteering Programme “Give&Grow”.
Fair supply chains – by means of audits and campaigns among our suppliers, geared towards improving working conditions.

But, we are also looking ahead to the future and want to facilitate sustainability at Swisscom in the coming years by adopting positions. What we do and what we don’t do should always serve the good of people, the environment or the economy. People, the environment and the economy are at the heart of our new Corporate Responsibility strategy. Many of our current commitments we want to maintain, some we want to build up, and others we want to withdraw from, always with the goal of better supporting the people, environment and economy in Switzerland.

The “Swiss” part of Swisscom’s name means we have an obligation to contribute to Switzerland’s welfare and standard of living through the actions we take in the interest of sustainability. It is another interesting fact that, according to the Human Development Index of the United Nations, Switzerland is the country with the third highest quality of life in the world. In this and many other respects, Switzerland proves yet again to be exceptional in the best sense of the word.

Kind regards

Stefan Nünlist

Head of Group Communications & Responsibility

Res Witschi

Head of Corporate Responsibility