Mr Gérald Vernez

Gérald Vernez studied geology and meteorology. He began his career as an engineer in the field of special engineering and risk management. After joining the General Staff of the Swiss Armed Forces in 1996, he prepared and trained the Federal Crisis Staff for the Year 2000. He then planned the command structures and processes of the armed forces and developed and led the area of information operations. After completing his education in security policy, he served as Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Joint Staff from 2009 to 2010 and from 2011 as Deputy Director for the development of the national strategy for the protection of Switzerland against cyberrisks from 2011. As the Chief of the Armed Forces' Delegate for Cyber Defense from 2013, he planned and coordinated the development of this area within the Armed Forces. In 2016, he was responsible for leading the resolution of the cyberattack against RUAG, and in 2017 he became DDPS Delegate for Cyber Defense. In this role until 2021, he developed and led the implementation of various strategies and presided over the development of Switzerland's cyberdefense capabilities. An expert and trainer in security policy and crisis management, Gérald Vernez then founded digiVolution in 2020, a force for strategic analysis and action on digital mutation and cybersecurity. In 2023, to bring the projects stemming from this foundation’s work to fruition, he and his partners founded SONAR Partners Inc. (formerly dVCyberGroup Inc.), a company specializing in strategic consulting on security, risk management, and crisis management in the era of digital transformation. More recently, he became the head of the Swiss Digital Pact association, which aims to amend the Swiss Constitution by enshrining ambitious goals regarding digital security.