Published on 25 August 2025

Who are we?

swisstopo is Switzerland's geoinformation centre. For us, everything – or almost everything – revolves around geodata.

Photo Béatrice Devènes

The Federal Office of Topography “measures” Switzerland. It surveys and documents the landscape and the underground, and produces high-quality spatially-referenced geodata. Its most important products include landscape and height models, aerial images, orthophotos, geological data and maps, reference data and of course the well-known series of national maps.

swisstopo is the federal government’s centre of expertise for geoinformation.

• We supply accurate, up-to-date and reliable basic information for surveying Switzerland, collecting data on the landscape and subsoil and documenting this over time..
• We provide important basic information for decisions on security, mobility, spatial planning, security of ownership, the environment and energy issues, and contribute to education.
• We provide our partners and customers with up-to-date, high-quality geodata on the whole of Switzerland.
• We are the federal government’s specialist authority for geology and the supervisory body for the official cadastral survey.

What sets swisstopo apart?

• We are a diverse office with various divisions and interesting fields of activity.
• We are committed to ensuring a good work-life balance and have been awarded the “Familie UND Beruf” certification for reconciling professional and family life.
• We have an open, participatory and supportive informal culture and create a modern, attractive working environment with forward-looking tasks.
• Our employees have a high level of expertise and are responsible for swisstopo’s products and services.

swisstopo: facts and figures

• Topography

  The Topography Division is responsible for the topographic mapping of Switzerland and adjacent parts of its neighbouring countries. In this way it provides other authorities, political bodies, the economy and the general public with the necessary bases and products for dealing with spatially-related issues.

• Cartography

  The Cartography Division is responsible for the analogue and digital cartographic depiction of the earth’s surface and its coverage in Switzerland and adjacent parts of its neighbouring countries on the basis of the fundamentals provided by the Topography Division.

• Survey

  The Surveying Division is the federal authority responsible for the combined tasks of official cadastral surveying and the Cadastre of public-law restrictions on landownership (PLR Cadastre) as well as for the national geodetic survey.

• Coordination, Geo-Information and Services (COGIS)

  As the administrative office of the Coordinating Agency for Federal Geographic Information (GCG), COGIS coordinates the activities of the federal administration in the field of geoinformation and with regard to establishing and developing a federal and national spatial data infrastructure. As part of swisstopo, COGIS coordinates ongoing projects relating to IT and geoinformation systems.

• The Swiss Geological Survey

  The Swiss Geological Survey at swisstopo is the federal competence centre for the collection, analysis, storage and provision of geological data. It produces basic geological data, 2D and 3D models and manages the Mont Terri rock laboratory in St. Ursanne.

• Human Resources

  The Human Resources Division (HR) is responsible for the HR process from recruitment to departure and supports the process and the employees in an advisory, coordinating and service role. Qualified and committed employees are important for HR.

• Support

  The Support Division assists the Board of Management with topics concerning strategic and operational management and provides services for the benefit of the personnel in the expert areas of GEVER, finance, logistics and protection.

• Strategy and Steering

  The Strategy and Steering department combines several of the office's cross-departmental tasks, such as business management, corporate development, various management activities (strategy management, programme and project management, portfolio management, risk management, information security management, corporate architecture and procurement management), as well as the processing and clarification of legal issues. This centralisation has enabled swisstopo to simplify its management structure and to exploit synergies by clearly defining responsibilities.

• Locations

  Most of our activities are located in Wabern. Our flight service is in Dübendorf near Zurich, and the Mont Terri rock laboratory and visitor centre are in St. Ursanne.

  Contact (admin.ch)

  Page d'accueil (mont-terri.ch)

• Diversity

  Diversity promotes innovation, creativity and understanding by bringing together different perspectives and ideas. Diversity results in better decisions, a stronger team spirit and an inclusive culture. swisstopo therefore promotes diversity in terms of language, age, gender and cultural background in all teams. swisstopo also promotes the integration of people with disabilities. Together with the agency UND, swisstopo also develops measures to promote balancing work and other areas of life.

  “UND” label

  Diversity (admin.ch)

  Focus on women

• Values

  swisstopo embraces the five values of “openness”, “trust”, “respect”, “courage” and “vision”. Through these values, we aim to shape our culture, strengthen our identity and promote cooperation. To ensure we are not just paying lip service here, we proactively look at how these values can put into practice in daily working life together with our Value Culture team and our employees.

  • swisstopo values (only available in German, French or Italian)

    PDF71.05 kB20 August 2025