AI integration and regulation in municipal administrations

Swiss smart media and CMI have introduced new artificial intelligence solutions designed specifically for municipal administrations. The 'Gemeinde-KI' project, developed with pilot municipalities including Orpund, provides tools such as prompt libraries, AI agents, and knowledge catalogs to automate daily administrative tasks.

Complementing this, the 'KI+' service integrates these capabilities into existing administrative systems. To ensure data security, KI+ utilizes open-source language models hosted within Switzerland, ensuring that customer data is processed in Swiss data centers and not used for model training. The goal is to move beyond simple chat interfaces toward semantic search capabilities that can navigate existing document archives and protocols while respecting established permissions.

In the broader European context, the implementation of AI in local government is also being shaped by the EU AI Act. Municipalities must now navigate new regulatory requirements, including the mandatory labeling of AI-generated images, text, and videos in certain scenarios, such as when using chatbots. Additionally, the Act places responsibility on municipalities to ensure staff possess sufficient AI competence to prevent fraud and manage systems effectively.