Representatives of 40 national statistical institutes, Eurostat leaders and other experts met in Bern on 28 and 29 October 2026 for the DGINS conference. The Federal Statistical Office organised the event with Eurostat. A release published on 29 October framed a central question: how can official data remain discoverable, understandable and trusted in a digital environment where platforms and AI systems increasingly mediate information?
The discussion is not limited to how statistical offices use artificial intelligence internally. It also concerns whether search engines and AI applications can find, contextualise, reuse and cite official figures correctly. Public statistics must retain their core principles of quality, independence and trust. Those requirements can sit uneasily alongside demands for fast, machine-readable information.
The programme covered shared approaches to AI readiness, existing practices for disseminating and governing data, and the opportunities and risks created by rapidly changing AI technologies. The FSO said about 130 participants from EU and EFTA states and candidate countries attended.
Switzerland has been part of the European Statistical System since 2007 under a bilateral statistics agreement. Hosting DGINS lets it contribute to the discussion about shared standards. The release announces no formal decision or binding new rules; the meeting was intended for exchange and for developing common ideas.