Missions

As part of legislation passed by the Federal Parliament, the Confederation recently granted RESINT a formal mandate to support the relevant authorities in addressing, mitigating, and rectifying the impacts of the following logistical hazards:

Natural resource scarcity (e.g. clean water, wood, sand, helium, phosphorus)
Food shortages (e.g. cereals, oilseed, soy)
Raw material dependencies (e.g. rare earth elements)
Synthetic product dependencies (e.g. artificial enzymes, antibiotics, variant-specific vaccines)
Technological dependencies (e.g. satellite communication systems, ASIC semiconductors)

Mission: Gather data on local access to raw materials by consulting with experts

Building on findings from a pilot program gathering geonumerical data on local prices of raw materials and agricultural goods, Dr. Amal Wenger is spearheading a mission to cross-reference data sources collected by RESINT volunteers. This effort seeks to assure the availability of essential goods and services. The intervention targets data linked to local variations in the pricing of raw materials, including critical metals.

Mission: Drafting recommendations for economic stakeholders on behalf of the FDFA

~Working closely with the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA, this mission is developing an improved protocol for sharing advice with economic stakeholders. RESINT volunteers work to enrich FDFA recommendations with aggregated quantitative and qualitative data and automated trend identification. Mr. Leuba, an economist aims to establish the opportunities and limitations of this new workflow, leveraging the interpretative skills (sense-making) of RESINT volunteers to improve upon previous recommendations for tourists and tour operators.

Mission: Supply chain management in the shadow of the Great Firewall

Success in this mission hinges on resilience, flexibility, and innovation. Responding to access restrictions posed by the PRC’s Great Firewall requires agile coordination with local and international partners, leveraging RESNET and alternative communication protocols. Operating successfully under these constraints requires a robust strategy for transport, storage and distribution, finding ways to mitigate the effects of unplanned delays and technological restrictions.

Mission: Revitalizing Swiss agriculture with local knowledge and grassroots innovation

As a complement to existing supply chains, gaining insight into the knowledge and expertise of farmers operating in difficult areas is crucial in addressing the numerous challenges facing the Swiss rural sector. Considering the cross-impacts of climate disruption and rapid population growth, policy experts have concluded that food production can no longer be restricted to the Central Plateau. Each piece of land, whether in the mountains or on the plains, may acquire new value and strategic significance, as the drive for self-sufficiency spurs demand for traditional local knowledge, grassroots innovation, and marginal agroecological practices.